PIANO    MASTERY 


Photo  Copyright  IHJ  Marceau 


IGNACE  JAN  PADEKEWSK.I 


PIANO  MASTERY 

TALKS  WITH  MASTER  PIANISTS 
AND  TEACHERS 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  A  VON  BULOW  CLASS,  HINTS  ON 

INTERPRETATION,  BY  TWO  AMERICAN  TEACHERS 

(DR.   WILLIAM    MASON   AND   WILLIAM   H. 

SHERWOOD)    AND   A   SUMMARY   BY 

THE    AUTHOR 


BY 

HARRIETTS  BROWER 

Author  of  "  The  Art  of  the  Pianist " 


WITH    SIXTEEN    PORTRAITS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 


t,  191S,  1915,  by 
THE  MUSICAL  OBSERVER  COMPANY 

Copyright,  1911,  by 
OLIVER  DITSON  COMPANY 


All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation  into 
foreign  languages. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PRELUDE .      .      .     ix 

IGNACE  JAN  PADEREWSKI 1 

ERNEST  SCHELLING  .  .  .  The  Hand  of  a  Pianist  .  .  12 
ERNESTO  CONSOLO  .  .  .  Making  the  Piano  a  Musical 

Instrument 17 

SIGISMOND  STOJOWSKI  .  .  Mind  in  Piano  Study  ...  25 
RUDOLPH  GANZ  ....  Conserving  Energy  in  Piano 

Practise 32 

TINA  LEHNER       ....     An      Audience      the      Best 

Teacher 38 

ETHEL  LEGINSKA       .     .     .     Relaxation    the    Keynote    of 

Modern  Piano  Playing  .     .     47 

BERTHA  FIEHING  TAPPER   .     Mastering  Piano  Problems   .     54 
CARL  M.  ROEDER  ....     Problems  of  Piano  Teachers    61 
KATHARINE  GOODSON      .     .     An  Artist  at  Home   ...     72 
MARK  HAMBOURO      .     .     .     Form,  Technic,  and  Expres- 
sion         78 

TOBIAS  MATTHAY      .     .     .     Watching  the  Artist  Teacher 

at  Work 84 

HAROLD  BAUER     ....     The  Question  of  Piano  Tone    95 
RAOUL  PUGNO       ....     Training  the  Child  ....  107 
THUEL  BURNHAM      .     .     .     The    "Melody"    and    "Color- 
atura" Hand 118 

EDWIN  HUGHES    ....     Some     Essentials     of     Piano 

Playing 127 

FERHUCCIO  BUSONI  .  .  .  An  Artist  at  Home  .  .  .  137 
ADELE  Aus  DER  OHE  .  .  Another  Artist  at  Home  .  .  142 
ELEANOR  SPENCER  .  .  .  More  Light  on  Leschetizky's 

Ideas 147 


Mf 

2-2-O 


Contents 

PAGE 

AETHUR  HOCHMAN  .  .  .  How  the  Pianist  Can  Color 

Tone  with  Action  and  Emo- 
tion   154 

TKHESA  CAERE  NO  ....     Early   Technical    Training    .  160 

WILHELM  BACHAUS  .  .  .  Technical  Problems  Dis- 
cussed   168 

ALEXANDER  LAMBERT  .  .  American  and  European 

Teachers 175 

FANNIE  BLOOMFIELD  ZEISLER    The  Scope  of  Piano  Technic  180 

AGNES  MORGAN  ....  Simplicity  in  Piano  Teach- 
ing   198 

EUGENE  HEFFLEY      .     .     .     Modern  Tendencies      .     .     .  205 

GERMAINE  SCHNITZER    .     .     Modern    Methods    in    Piano 

Study 215 

OSSIP  GABRILOWITSCH      .     .     Characteristic   Touch   on   the 

Piano 225 

HANS  VON  BULOW    .     .     .     Teacher  and  Interpreter  .     .  232 
WILLIAM  H.  SHERWOOD  AND 

DR.  WILLIAM  MASON  .     .     Hints  on  Interpretation  .     .  248 
POSTLUDE      .     >     .         .     .     Vital  Points  in  Piano  Play- 
ing    264 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ignace  Jan  Paderewski Frontispiece 


TACINQ 
PAGE 


Sigismond  Stojowski 26 

Rudolph  Ganz 32 

Katharine  Goodson 72 

Mark  Hambourg 78 

Tobias  Matthay 84 

Harold  Bauer 96 

Raoul  Pugno 108 

Ferruccio  Busoni 138 

Eleanor  Spencer 148 

Teresa  Carreno 160 

Wilhelm  Bachaus 168 

Fannie  Bloomfield  Zeisler 180 

Ossip  Gabrilowitsch 226 

Hans  von  Billow 232 

Dr.  William  Mason .  242 


PRELUDE 

TO  AMERICAN  PIANO  TEACHERS  AND 
STUDENTS 

THE  following  "Talks"  were  obtained  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Editor  of  Musical  America, 
and  have  all,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  ap- 
peared in  that  paper.  They  were  secured 
with  the  hope  and  intention  of  benefiting  the 
American  teacher  and  student. 

Requests  have  come  from  all  over  the 
country,  asking  that  the  interviews  be  issued 
in  book  form.  In  this  event  it  was  the 
author's  intention  to  ask  each  artist  to  enlarge 
and  add  to  his  own  talk.  This,  however,  has 
been  practicable  only  in  certain  cases;  in 
others  the  articles  remain  very  nearly  as  they 
at  first  appeared. 

The  summer  of  1913  in  Europe  proved  to 
be  a  veritable  musical  pilgrimage,  the  mile- 
stones of  which  were  the  homes  of  the  famous 
artists,  who  generously  gave  of  their  time  and 
were  willing  to  discuss  their  methods  of  play- 
ing and  teaching. 

The  securing  of  the  interviews  has  given 

ix 


x  Prelude 

the  author  satisfaction  and  delight.  She 
wishes  to  share  both  with  the  fellow  workers 
of  her  own  land. 

The  Talks  are  arranged  in  the  order  in 
which  they  were  secured. 


PIANO    MASTERY 


PIANO  MASTERY 


IGNACE  JAN  PADEREWSKI 

ONE  of  the  most  consummate  masters  of 
the  piano  at  the  present  time  is  Ignace  Jan 
Paderewski.  Those  who  were  privileged  to 
hear  him  during  his  first  season  in  this  country 
will  never  forget  the  experience.  The  Polish 
artist  conquered  the  new  world  as  he  had  con- 
quered the  old;  his  name  became  a  household 
word,  known  from  coast  to  coast;  he  traveled 
over  our  land,  a  Prince  of  Tones,  everywhere 
welcomed  and  honored.  Each  succeeding 
visit  deepened  the  admiration  in  which  his 
wonderful  art  was  held. 

The  question  has  often  been  raised  as  to  the 
reason  of  Paderewski's  remarkable  hold  on 
an  audience;  wherein  lay  his  power  over  the 
musical  and  unmusical  alike.  Whenever  he 
played  there  was  always  the  same  intense  hush 
over  the  listeners,  the  same  absorbed  attention, 
the  same  spell.  The  superficial  attributed 


Piano   Mastery 


these  largely  to  his  appearance  and  manner; 
the  more  thoughtful  looked  deeper.  Here 
was  a  player  who  was  a  thoroughly  trained 
master  in  technic  and  interpretation;  one  who 
knew  his  Bach,  Beethoven,  Chopin,  Schumann 
and  Liszt.  These  things  of  themselves  would 
not  hold  an  audience  spellbound,  for  there 
were  other  artists  equally  well  equipped.  In 
a  final  analysis  it  was  doubtless  Paderewski's 
wonderful  piano  tone,  so  full  of  variety  and 
color,  so  vital  with  numberless  gradations  of 
light  and  shade,  that  charmed  and  enthralled 
his  listeners.  It  mattered  to  no  one — save  the 
critics — that  he  frequently  repeated  the  same 
works.  What  if  we  heard  the  Chromatic 
Fantaisie  a  score  of  times?  In  his  hands  it 
became  a  veritable  Soliloquy  on  Life  and 
Destiny,  which  each  repetition  invested  with 
new  meaning  and  beauty.  What  player  has 
ever  surpassed  his  poetic  conception  of  Schu- 
mann's Papillons,  or  the  Chopin  Nocturnes, 
which  he  made  veritable  dream  poems  of  love 
and  ecstasy.  What  listener  has  ever  forgotten 
the  tremendous  power  and  titanic  effect  of 
the  Liszt  Rhapsodies,  especially  No.  2  ?  When 
Paderewski  first  came  to  us,  in  the  flush  of  his 
young  manhood,  he  taught  us  what  a  noble 
instrument  the  piano  really  is  in  the  hands  of 


Ignace   Jan    Paderewski 


a  consummate  master.  He  showed  us  that  he 
could  make  the  piano  speak  with  the  delicacy 
and  power  of  a  Rubinstein,  but  with  more  tech- 
nical correctness;  he  proved  that  he  could 
pierce  our  very  soul  with  the  intensity  of  his 
emotion,  the  poignant,  heart-searching  quality 
of  his  tones,  the  poetry  and  beauty  of  his  in- 
terpretation. 

Paderewski  is  known  as  composer  and 
pianist,  only  rarely  does  he  find  time  to  give 
instruction  on  his  instrument.  Mme.  Antoi- 
nette Szumowska,  the  Polish  pianist  and  lec- 
turer was  at  one  time  termed  his  "only  pupil." 
Mr.  Sigismond  Stojowski,  the  Polish  com- 
poser, pianist  and  teacher  has  also  studied  with 
him.  Both  can  testify  as  to  his  value  as  an 
instructor. 

Mme.  Szumowska  says: 

"Paderewski  lays  great  stress  on  legato  play- 
ing, and  desires  everything  to  be  studied  slowly, 
with  deep  touch  and  with  full,  clear  tone.  For 
developing  strength  he  uses  an  exercise  for 
which  the  hand  is  pressed  against  the  keyboard 
while  the  wrist  remains  very  low  and  motion- 
less and  each  finger  presses  on  a  key,  bring- 
ing, or  drawing  out  as  much  tone  as  possible. 

"Paderewski  advises  studying  scales  and 
arpeggios  with  accents,  for  instance,  accenting 


Piano   Mastery 


every  third  note,  thus  enabling  each  finger  in 
turn  to  make  the  accent  impulse:  this  will  se- 
cure evenness  of  touch.  Double  passages,  such 
as  double  thirds  and  sixths,  should  be  divided 
and  each  half  practised  separately,  with  legato 
touch.  Octaves  should  be  practised  with  loose 
wrists  and  staccato  touch.  As  a  preparatory 
study  practise  with  thumb  alone.  The  thumb 
must  always  be  kept  curved,  with  joints  well 
rounded  out;  it  should  touch  the  keys  with  its 
tip,  so  as  to  keep  it  on  a  level  with  the  other 
fingers.  Paderewski  is  very  particular  about 
this  point. 

"It  is  difficult  to  speak  of  Paderewski's  man- 
ner of  teaching  expression,  for  here  the  ideas 
differ  with  each  composer  and  with  every  com- 
position. As  to  tonal  color,  he  requires  all  pos- 
sible variety  in  tone  production.  He  likes 
strong  contrasts,  which  are  brought  out,  not 
only  by  variety  of  touch  but  by  skilful  use  of 
the  pedals. 

"My  lessons  with  Paderewski  were  some- 
what irregular.  We  worked  together  when- 
ever he  came  to  Paris.  Sometimes  I  did  not 
see  him  for  several  months,  and  then  he  would 
be  in  Paris  for  a  number  of  weeks;  at  such 
seasons  we  worked  together  very  often.  Fre- 
quently these  lessons,  which  were  given  in  my 


Ignace   Jan   Paderewski 


cousin's  house,  began  very  late  in  the  evening 
— around  ten  o'clock — and  lasted  till  midnight, 
or  even  till  one  in  the  morning. 

"Paderewski  the  teacher  is  as  remarkable  as 
Paderewski  the  pianist.  He  is  very  painstak- 
ing; his  remarks  are  clear  and  incisive:  he  often 
illustrates  by  playing  the  passage  in  question, 
or  the  whole  composition.  He  takes  infinite 
trouble  to  work  out  each  detail  and  bring  it 
to  perfection.  He  is  very  patient  and  sweet 
tempered,  though  he  can  occasionally  be  a  little 
sarcastic.  He  often  grows  very  enthusiastic 
over  his  teaching,  and  quite  forgets  the  lapse 
of  time.  In  general,  however,  he  does  not  care 
to  teach,  and  naturally  has  little  time  for  it." 

Mr.  Stojowski,  when  questioned  in  regard 
to  his  work  with  the  Polish  pianist,  said : 

"Paderewski  is  a  very  remarkable  teacher. 
There  are  teachers  who  attempt  to  instruct 
pupils  about  what  they  do  not  understand,  or 
cannot  do  themselves :  there  are  others  who  are 
able  to  do  the  thing,  but  are  not  able  to  explain 
how  they  do  it.  Paderewski  can  both  do  it  and 
explain  how  it  is  done.  He  knows  perfectly 
what  effects  he  wishes  to  produce,  how  they  are 
to  be  produced,  the  causes  which  underlie  and 
bring  them  about;  he  can  explain  and  demon- 


6  Piano   Mastery 

strate  these  to  the  pupil  with  the  greatest  ex- 
actness and  detail. 

"As  you  justly  remark  the  quality  of  tone 
and  the  variety  of  tonal  gradations  are  special 
qualities  of  Paderewski's  playing.  These 
must  be  acquired  by  aid  of  the  ear,  which  tests 
and  judges  each  shade  and  quality  of  tone. 
He  counsels  the  student  to  listen  to  each  tone 
he  produces,  for  quality  and  variety. 

CLEAKNESS  A  FIRST  PRINCIPLE 

"The  player,  as  he  sits  at  the  piano,  his  mind 
and  heart  filled  with  the  beauty  of  the  music 
his  fingers  are  striving  to  produce,  vainly  im- 
agines he  is  making  the  necessary  effects. 
Paderewski  will  say  to  him :  'No  doubt  you  feel 
the  beauty  of  this  composition,  but  I  hear  none 
of  the  effects  you  fancy  you  are  making;  you 
must  deliver  everything  much  more  clearly: 
distinctness  of  utterance  is  of  prime  impor- 
tance/ Then  he  shows  how  clearness  and  dis- 
tinctness may  be  acquired.  The  fingers  must 
be  rendered  firm,  with  no  giving  in  at  the  nail 
joint.  A  technical  exercise  which  he  gives, 
and  which  I  also  use  in  my  teaching,  trains  the 
fingers  in  up  and  down  movements,  while  the 
wrist  is  held  very  low  and  pressed  against  the 
keyboard.  At  first  simple  five-finger  forms 


Ignace   Jan   Paderewski 


are  used ;  when  the  hand  has  become  accustomed 
to  this  tonic,  some  of  the  Czerny  Op.  740  can 
be  played,  with  the  hand  in  this  position. 
Great  care  should  be  taken  when  using  this 
principle,  or  lameness  will  result.  A  low  seat 
at  the  piano  is  a  necessity  for  this  practise; 
sitting  low  is  an  aid  to  weight  playing:  we  all 
know  how  low  Paderewski  himself  sits  at  the 
instrument. 

"You  ask  what  technical  material  is  em- 
ployed. Czerny,  Op.  740;  not  necessarily  the 
entire  opus;  three  books  are  considered  suffi- 
cient. Also  dementi's  Gradus.  Of  course 
scales  must  be  carefully  studied,  with  various 
accents,  rhythms  and  tonal  dynamics;  arpeg- 
gios also.  Many  arpeggio  forms  of  value  may 
be  culled  from  compositions. 

"There  are,  as  we  all  know,  certain  funda- 
mental principles  that  underlie  all  correct 
piano  study,  though  various  masters  may  em- 
ploy different  ways  and  means  to  exemplify 
these  fundamentals.  Paderewski  studied  with 
Leschetizky  and  inculcates  the  principles 
taught  by  that  master,  with  this  difference, 
that  he  adapts  his  instruction  to  the  physique 
and  mentality  of  the  student ;  whereas  the  Vor- 
bereiters  of  Leschetizky  prepare  all  pupils 
along  the  same  lines,  making  them  go  through 


8  Piano   Mastery 

a  similar  routine,  which  may  not  in  every  in- 
stance be  necessary. 

FINGERING 

"One  point  Paderewski  is  very  particular 
about,  and  that  is  fingering.  He  often  care- 
fully marks  the  fingering  for  a  whole  piece; 
once  this  is  decided  upon  it  must  be  kept  to. 
He  believes  in  employing  a  fingering  which  is 
most  comfortable  to  the  hand,  as  well  as  one 
which,  in  the  long  run,  will  render  the  passage 
most  effective.  He  is  most  sensitive  to  the 
choice  of  fingering  the  player  makes,  and  be- 
lieves that  each  finger  can  produce  a  different 
quality  of  tone.  Once,  when  I  was  playing  a 
Nocturne,  he  called  to  me  from  the  other  end 
of  the  room:  'Why  do  you  always  play  that 
note  with  the  fourth  finger?  I  can  hear  you  do 
it ;  the  effect  is  bad.'  He  has  a  keen  power  of 
observation ;  he  notices  little  details  which  pass 
unheeded  by  most  people;  nothing  escapes  him. 
This  power,  directed  to  music,  makes  him  the 
most  careful  and  painstaking  of  teachers.  At 
the  same  time,  in  the  matter  of  fingering,  he 
endeavors  to  choose  the  one  which  can  be  most 
easily  accomplished  by  the  player.  The  Von 
Biilow  editions,  while  very  erudite,  are  apt  to 
be  laborious  and  pedantic;  they  show  the  Ger- 


Ignace   Jan   Paderewski  9 

man  tendency  to  over-elaboration,  which,  when 
carried  too  far  becomes  a  positive  fault. 

CORRECT   MOTION 

"Another  principle  Paderewski  considers 
very  important  is  that  of  appropriate  motion. 
He  believes  in  the  elimination  of  every  un- 
necessary movement,  yet  he  wishes  the  whole 
body  free  and  supple.  Motions  should  be  as 
carefully  studied  as  other  technical  points.  It 
is  true  he  often  makes  large  movements  of 
arm,  but  they  are  all  thought  out  and  have  a 
dramatic  significance.  He  may  lift  the  finger 
off  a  vehement  staccato  note  by  quick  up-arm 
motion,  in  a  flash  of  vigorous  enthusiasm;  but 
the  next  instant  his  hand  is  in  quiet  position 
for  the  following  phrase. 

STUDYING  EFFECTS 

"The  intent  listening  I  spoke  of  just  now 
must  be  of  vital  assistance  to  the  player  in  his 
search  for  tonal  variety  and  effect.  Tone  pro- 
duction naturally  varies  according  to  the  space 
which  is  to  be  filled.  Greater  effort  must  be 
put  forth  in  a  large  hall,  to  make  the  tone  carry 
over  the  footlights,  to  render  the  touch  clear, 
the  accents  decisive  and  contrasts  pronounced. 
In  order  to  become  accustomed  to  these  condi- 


10  Piano   Mastery 

tions,  the  studio  piano  can  be  kept  closed,  and 
touch  must  necessarily  be  made  stronger  to 
produce  the  desired  power. 

INTERPRETATION 

"A  great  artist's  performance  of  a  noble 
work  ought  to  sound  like  a  spontaneous  im- 
provisation; the  greater  the  artist  the  more 
completely  will  this  result  be  attained.  In 
order  to  arrive  at  this  result,  however,  the  com- 
position must  be  dissected  in  minutest  detail. 
Inspiration  comes  with  the  first  conception  of 
the  interpretation  of  the  piece.  Afterward  all 
details  are  painstakingly  worked  out,  until  the 
ideal  blossoms  into  the  perfectly  executed  per- 
formance. Paderewski  endeavors  uniformly 
to  render  a  piece  in  the  manner  and  spirit  in 
which  he  has  conceived  it.  He  relates  that 
after  one  of  his  recitals,  a  lady  said  to  him: 

"  'Why,  Mr.  Paderewski,  you  did  not  play 
this  piece  the  same  as  you  did  when  I  heard 
you  before.' 

"  'I  assure  you  I  intended  to,'  was  the  re- 

piy- 

'  'Oh,  it  isn't  necessary  to  play  it  always  the 
same  way;  you  are  not  a  machine,'  said  the 
lady. 

"This  reply  aroused  his  artist-nature. 


Ignace   Jan   Paderewski  11 

"  'It  is  just  because  I  am  an  artist  that  I 
ought  at  all  times  to  play  in  the  same  way.  I 
have  thought  out  the  conception  of  that  piece, 
and  am  in  duty  bound  to  express  my  ideal  as 
nearly  as  possible  each  time  I  perform  it.' 

"Paderewski  instructs,  as  he  does  everything 
else,  with  magnificent  generosity.  He  takes 
no  account  of  time.  I  would  come  to  him  for  a 
stipulated  half-hour,  but  the  lesson  would  con- 
tinue indefinitely,  until  we  were  both  forced 
to  stop  from  sheer  exhaustion.  I  have  studied 
with  him  at  various  times.  One  summer  es- 
pecially stands  out  in  my  memory,  when  I  had 
a  lesson  almost  every  day." 

Speaking  of  the  rarely  beautiful  character 
of  Paderewski's  piano  compositions,  Mr.  Sto- 
jowski  said: 

"I  feel  that  the  ignorance  of  this  music 
among  piano  teachers  and  students  is  a  cry- 
ing shame.  What  modern  piano  sonata  have 
we  to-day,  to  compare  with  his?  I  know  of 
none.  And  the  songs — are  they  not  wonder- 
full  I  love  the  man  and  his  music  so  much 
that  I  am  doing  what  lies  in  my  power  to  make 
these  compositions  better  known.  There  is 
need  of  pioneer  work  in  this  matter,  and  I 
am  glad  to  do  some  of  it." 


II 
ERNEST  SCHELLING 

THE  HAND  OF  A  PIANIST 

As  I  sat  ill  the  luxurious  salon  of  the  apart- 
ments near  the  Park,  where  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Ernest  Schelling  were  spending  the  winter, 
sounds  of  vigorous  piano  practise  floated  out 
to  me  from  a  distant  chamber.  It  was  un- 
usual music,  and  seemed  to  harmonize  with  the 
somewhat  Oriental  atmosphere  and  coloring  of 
the  music-room,  with  its  heavily  beamed  ceil- 
ing of  old  silver,  its  paintings  and  tapes- 
tries. 

The  playing  ceased  and  soon  the  artist  ap- 
peared, greeting  the  visitor  with  genial  friend- 
liness of  manner.  He  was  accompanied  by  the 
"lord  of  the  manor,"  a  beautiful  white  bull 
terrier,  with  coat  as  white  as  snow.  This  im- 
portant personage  at  once  curled  himself  up 
in  the  most  comfortable  arm-chair,  a  quiet,  pro- 
found observer  of  all  that  passed.  In  the  midst 
of  some  preliminary  chat,  the  charming  hostess 
entered  and  poured  tea  for  us. 

12 


Ernest    Schelling  13 

The  talk  soon  turned  upon  the  subject  in 
which  I  was  deeply  interested — the  technical 
training  of  a  pianist. 

"Technic  is  such  an  individual  matter,"  be- 
gan Mr.  Schelling;  "for  it  depends  on  so  many 
personal  things:  the  physique,  the  mentality, 
the  amount  of  nervous  energy  one  has,  the 
hand  and  wrist.  Perhaps  the  poorest  kind  of 
hand  for  the  piano  is  the  long  narrow  one,  with 
long  fingers.  Far  better  to  have  a  short,  broad 
one  with  short  fingers.  Josef  Hofmann  has 
a  wonderful  hand  for  the  piano;  rather  small, 
yes,  but  so  thick  and  muscular.  The  wrist, 
too,  is  a  most  important  factor.  Some  pianists 
have  what  I  call  a  'natural  wrist,'  that  is  they 
have  a  natural  control  of  it ;  it  is  no  trouble  for 
them  to  play  octaves,  for  instance.  Mme.  Car- 
reno  has  that  kind  of  wrist ;  she  never  had  dif- 
ficulty with  octaves,  they  are  perfect.  Hof- 
mann also  has  a  marvelous  wrist.  I  am  sorry 
to  say  I  have  not  that  kind  of  wrist,  and  there- 
fore have  been  much  handicapped  on  that  ac- 
count. For  I  have  had  to  work  tremendously 
to  develop  not  only  the  wrist  but  the  whole 
technic.  You  see  I  was  a  wonder  child,  and 
played  a  great  deal  as  a  small  boy.  Then  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  I  did  not  practise  anything 
like  what  I  ought  to  have  done.  That  is  the 


14  Piano   Mastery 

period  when  the  bones  grow,  muscles  develop 
—everything  grows.  Another  thing  against 
me  is  the  length  of  my  fingers.  When  the  fin- 
gers are  longer  than  the  width  of  the  hand 
across  the  knuckle  joint,  it  is  not  an  advantage 
but  a  detriment.  The  extra  length  of  finger 
is  only  so  much  dead  weight  that  the  hand  has 
to  lift.  ^  This  is  another  disadvantage  I  have 
had  to  work  against.  Yes,  as  you  say,  it  is  a 
rather  remarkable  hand  in  regard  to  size  and 
suppleness.  But  I  hardly  agree  that  it  is  like 
Liszt's;  more  like  Chopin's,  judging  from  the 
casts  I  have  seen  of  his  hand. 

"As  for  technical  routine,  of  course  I  play 
scales  a  good  deal  and  in  various  ways.  When 
I  'go  into  training,'  I  find  the  best  means  to 
attain  velocity  is  to  work  with  the  metronome. 
One  can't  jump  at  once  into  the  necessary 
agility,  and  the  metronome  is  a  great  help  in 
bringing  one  up  to  the  right  pitch.  You  see 
by  the  firmness  of  these  muscles  at  the  back  and 
thumb  side  of  my  hand,  that  I  am  in  good  trim 
now;  but  one  soon  loses  this  if  one  lets  up  on 
the  routine. 

"Then  I  practise  trills  of  all  kinds,  and  oc- 
taves. Yes,  I  agree  that  octaves  are  a  most 
necessary  and  important  factor  in  the  player's 
technical  equipment.-' 


Ernest   Schelling  15 

Going  to  the  piano  and  illustrating  as  he 
talked,  Mr.  Schelling  continued : 

"Merely  flopping  the  hand  up  and  down,  as 
many  do,  is  of  little  use — it  does  not  lead  to 
strength  or  velocity.  As  you  see,  I  hold  the 
hand  arched  and  very  firm,  and  the  firmness  is 
in  the  fingers  as  well;  the  hand  makes  up  and 
down  movements  with  loose  wrist ;  the  result  is 
a  full,  bright,  crisp  tone.  One  can  play  these 
octaves  slowly,  using  weight,  or  faster  with 
crisp,  staccato  touch.  I  play  diatonic  or  chro- 
matic octave  scales,  with  four  repetitions  or 
more,  on  each  note — using  fourth  finger  for 
black  keys. 

"I  sit  low  at  the  piano,  as  I  get  better  results 
in  this  way;  though  it  is  somewhat  more  dif- 
ficult to  obtain  them.  I  confess  it  is  easier  to 
sit  high  and  bear  down  on  the  hands.  Yes,  I 
thoroughly  approve  of  'weight  touch,'  and  it 
is  the  touch  I  generally  use.  Sometimes  it  is 
a  certain  pressure  on  the  key  after  it  is  played, 
using  arm  weight. 

"Ah,  you  are  right.  The  young  teacher  or 
player,  in  listening  to  the  artist,  and  noticing 
he  does  not  lift  his  fingers  to  any  extent,  and 
that  he  always  plays  with  weight,  hastily  con- 
cludes these  are  the  principles  with  which  he 
must  begin  to  study  or  teach  the  piano.  It  is 


16  Piano   Mastery 

a  mistake  to  begin  in  that  way.  Very  exact 
finger  movements  must  be  learned  in  the  begin- 
ning. As  I  said  before,  technic  is  such  an  in- 
dividual matter,  that  after  the  first  period  of 
foundational  training,  one  who  has  the  desire 
to  become  an  artist,  must  work  out  things  for 
himself.  There  should  be  no  straight-laced 
methods.  Only  a  few  general  rules  can  be  laid 
down,  such  as  will  fit  most  cases.  The  player 
who  would  rise  to  any  distinction  must  work 
out  his  own  salvation. 

"In  regard  to  memorizing  piano  music,  it 
may  be  said  this  can  be  accomplished  in  three 
ways:  namely,  with  the  eye,  with  the  ear,  and 
with  the  hand.  For  example:  I  take  the 
piece  and  read  it  through  with  the  eye,  just  as 
I  would  read  a  book.  I  get  familiar  with  the 
notes  in  this  way,  and  see  how  they  look  in 
print.  I  learn  to  know  them  so  well  that  I 
have  a  mental  photograph  of  them,  and  if 
necessary  could  recall  any  special  measure  or 
phrase  so  exactly  that  I  could  write  it.  All 
this  time  my  mental  ear  has  been  hearing  those 
notes,  and  is  familiar  with  them.  Then  the 
third  stage  arrives;  I  must  put  all  this  on  the 
keyboard,  my  fingers  must  have  their  train- 
ing; impressions  must  pass  from  the  mind  to 
the  fingers;  then  all  is  complete." 


Ill 
ERNESTO  CONSOLO 

MAKING  THE  PIANO  A  MUSICAL 
INSTRUMENT 

IN  a  long  conversation  with  Ernesto  Con- 
solo,  the  eminent  pianist  and  instructor,  many 
points  of  vital  importance  to  the  player  and 
teacher  were  touched  upon.  Among  other 
things  Mr.  Consolo  said: 

"It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  piano 
teacher  should  take  his  profession  very  seri- 
ously. In  my  opinion  there  is  most  excellent 
instruction  to  be  secured  right  here  in  America, 
with  such  teachers  as  are  willing  to  take  their 
work  seriously.  The  time  is  not  far  away,  I 
think,  when  America  will  enjoy  a  very  promi- 
nent position  in  the  matter  of  musical  instruc- 
tion, and  perhaps  lead  the  world  in  musical 
advantages.  The  time  is  not  here  just  yet,  but 
it  is  surely  coming.  You  are  still  young  in 
this  country,  though  you  are  wonderfully 
progressive. 

"If  I  have  spoken  of  the  serious  aims  of 
17 


18  Piano   Mastery 

many  teachers  of  piano,  I  cannot  say  as  much 
for  the  students:  they  are  often  superficial 
and  want  to  go  too  quickly ;  they  are  apt  to  be 
in  a  hurry  and  want  to  make  a  show,  without 
being  willing  to  spend  the  necessary  years  on 
preparation.  No  art  can  be  hurried.  Stu- 
dents of  painting,  sculpture,  architecture  or 
music  must  all  learn  the  technique  of  their  art ; 
they  must  all  learn  to  go  deep  into  the  mys- 
teries and  master  technic  as  the  means  to  the 
end,  and  no  one  requires  exhaustive  prepara- 
tion more  than  the  executive  musician.  The 
person  who  would  fence,  box  or  play  baseball 
must  know  the  technic  of  these  things;  how 
much  more  must  the  pianist  be  master  of  the 
technique  of  his  instrument  if  he  would  bring 
out  the  best  results. 

"At  the  very  bottom  and  heart  of  this  sub- 
ject of  mastery  lies  Concentration:  without 
that,  little  of  value  can  be  accomplished. 
Students  think  if  they  sit  at  the  piano  and 
'practise'  a  certain  number  of  hours  daily,  it 
is  sufficient.  A  small  portion  of  that  time,  if 
used  with  intense  concentration,  will  accom- 
plish more.  One  player  will  take  hours  to 
learn  a  page  or  a  passage  which  another  will 
master  in  a  fraction  of  the  time.  What  is  the 
difference?  It  may  be  said  one  has  greater  in- 


Ernesto    Console  19 

telligence  than  the  other.  The  greater  the  in- 
telligence, the  stronger  the  power  of  concen- 
tration. 

"If  a  pupil  comes  to  me  whose  powers  of 
concentration  have  not  been  awakened  or  devel- 
oped, I  sometimes  give  him  music  to  read  over 
very  slowly,  so  slowly  that  every  note,  phrase 
and  finger  mark  can  be  distinctly  seen.  Not 
being  used  to  thinking  intently,  mistakes  occur, 
in  one  hand  or  the  other,  showing  that  the  mind 
was  not  sufficiently  concentrated.  It  is  the 
mind  every  time  that  wins.  Without  using 
our  mental  powers  to  their  fullest  extent  we 
fail  of  the  best  that  is  in  us. 

"In  regard  to  technical  equipment  and 
routine,  I  do  different  work  with  each  pupil, 
for  each  pupil  is  different.  No  two  people 
have  the  same  hands,  physique  or  mentality; 
so  why  should  they  all  be  poured  into  the  same 
mold?  One  student,  for  example,  has  splen- 
did wrists  and  not  very  good  fingers.  Why 
should  I  give  him  the  same  amount  of  wrist 
practise  that  I  give  his  brother  who  has  feeble 
wrists;  it  would  only  be  a  waste  of  time. 
Again,  a  pupil  with  limited  ideas  of  tonal  qual- 
ity and  dynamics  is  advised  to  study  tone  at 
the  piano  in  some  simple  melody  of  Schubert 
or  Chopin,  trying  to  realize  a  beautiful  tone— 


20  Piano   Mastery 

playing  it  in  various  ways  until  such  a  quality 
is  secured.  The  piano  is  a  responsive  instru- 
ment and  gives  back  what  you  put  into  it.  If 
you  attack  it  with  a  hard  touch,  it  will  respond 
with  a  harsh  tone.  It  rests  with  you  whether 
the  piano  shall  be  a  musical  instrument  or  not. 

"A  student  who  comes  to  me  with  a  very 
poor  touch  must  of  course  go  back  to  first 
principles  and  work  up.  Such  an  one  must 
learn  correct  movements  and  conditions  of 
hands,  arms  and  fingers;  and  these  can  be  ac- 
quired at  a  table.  Along  with  these,  however, 
I  would  always  give  some  simple  music  to  play, 
so  that  the  tonal  and  musical  sense  shall  not  be 
neglected. 

"Of  course  I  advise  comprehensive  scale 
practise;  scales  in  all  keys  and  in  various 
rhythms  and  touches.  There  is  an  almost  end- 
less variety  of  ways  to  play  scales.  Those  in 
double  thirds  and  sixths  I  use  later,  after  the 
others  are  under  control.  Arpeggios  are  also 
included  in  this  scale  practise. 

"I  have  said  that  Concentration  is  the  key- 
note of  piano  mastery.  Another  principle 
which  goes  hand  in  hand  with  it  is  Relaxation. 
Unless  this  condition  is  present  in  arms,  wrist 
and  shoulders,  the  tone  will  be  hard  and  the 
whole  performance  constrained  and  unmusical, 


Ernesto   Console  21 

There  is  no  need  of  having  tired  muscles  or 
those  that  feel  strained  or  painful.  If  this 
condition  arises  it  is  proof  that  there  is  stiff- 
ness, that  relaxation  has  not  taken  place.  I 
can  sit  at  the  piano  and  play  forte  for  three 
hours  at  a  time  and  not  feel  the  least  fatigue 
in  hands  and  arms.  Furthermore,  the  playing 
of  one  who  is  relaxed,  who  knows  how  to  use 
his  anatomy,  will  not  injure  the  piano.  We 
must  remember  the  piano  is  a  thing  of  joints; 
the  action  is  so  delicately  adjusted  that  it 
moves  with  absolute  freedom  and  ease.  The 
player  but  adds  another  joint,  which  should 
equal  in  ease  and  adjustment  the  ones  already 
there.  On  the  other  hand  a  person  with  stiff 
joints  and  rigid  muscles,  thumping  ragtime  on 
a  good  piano,  can  ruin  it  in  a  week;  whereas 
under  the  fingers  of  a  player  who  understands 
the  laws  of  relaxation,  it  would  last  for  many 
years. 

"This  principle  of  relaxation  is  exemplified 
in  the  athlete,  baseball  player,  and  others. 
They  have  poise  and  easy  adjustment  in  every 
part  of  the  body:  they  never  seem  to  fall  into 
strained  or  stiff  attitudes,  nor  make  angular  or 
stiff  movements.  Arms,  shoulders,  wrists  and 
fingers  are  all  relaxed  and  easy.  The  pianist 
needs  to  study  these  principles  as  well  as  the 


22  Piano   Mastery 

athlete.  I  believe  in  physical  exercises  to  a 
certain  extent.  Light-weight  dumb-bells  can 
be  used;  it  is  surprising  how  light  a  weight  is 
sufficient  to  accomplish  the  result.  But  it 
must  be  one  movement  at  a  time,  exercising  one 
muscle  at  a  time,  and  not  various  muscles  at 
once. 

"For  memorizing  piano  music  I  can  say  I 
have  no  method  whatever.  When  I  know  the 
piece  technically  or  mechanically,  I  know  it  by 
heart.  I  really  do  not  know  when  the  mem- 
orizing takes  place.  The  music  is  before  me 
on  the  piano;  I  forget  to  turn  the  pages,  and 
thus  find  I  know  the  piece.  In  playing  with 
orchestra  I  know  the  parts  of  all  instruments, 
unless  it  be  just  a  simple  chord  accompani- 
ment; it  would  not  interest  me  to  play  with 
orchestra  and  not  know  the  music  in  this  way. 
On  one  occasion  I  was  engaged  to  play  the 
Sgambatti  concerto,  which  I  had  not  played  for 
some  time.  I  tried  it  over  on  the  piano  and 
found  I  could  not  remember  it.  My  first  idea 
was  to  get  out  the  score  and  go  over  it;  the 
second  was  to  try  and  recall  the  piece  from 
memory.  I  tried  the  latter  method,  with  the 
result  that  in  about  three  hours  and  a  half  I 
had  the  whole  concerto  back  in  mind.  I 
played  the  work  ten  days  later  without  having 


23 


once  consulted  the  score.  This  goes  to  prove 
that  memory  must  be  absolute  and  not  merely 
mechanical. 

"Students  think  they  cannot  memorize,  when 
it  would  be  quite  easy  if  they  would  apply 
themselves  in  the  right  way.  I  ask  them  to 
look  intently  at  a  small  portion,  two  measures, 
or  even  one,  and  afterward  to  play  it  without 
looking  at  the  notes.  Of  course,  as  you  say, 
this  can  be  done  away  from  the  piano;  the 
notes  can  even  be  recited;  but  there  are  other 
signs  and  marks  to  be  considered  and  remem- 
bered, so  when  one  can  be  at  the  piano  I  con- 
sider it  better. 

"Piano  playing  is  such  an  individual  and 
complex  thing.  I  do  not  require  nor  expect 
my  pupils  to  play  as  I  do,  nor  interpret  as  I 
interpret,  for  then  I  would  only  see  just  so 
many  replicas  of  myself,  and  their  individuality 
would  be  lost.  I  often  hear  them  play  a  com- 
position in  a  different  way  and  with  a  different 
spirit  from  the  one  I  find  in  it.  But  I  don't 
say  to  them,  'That  is  wrong;  you  must  play 
it  as  I  do/  No,  I  let  them  play  it  as  they 
see  and  feel  it,  so  long  as  there  is  no  sin  against 
artistic  taste. 

"I  trust  these  few  points  will  be  helpful  to 
both  player  and  teacher.  The  latter  needs  all 


24s  Piano   Mastery 

the  encouragement  we  artists  can  give,  for  in 
most  cases  he  is  doing  a  good  work. 

"Volumes  might  be  added  to  these  hurried 
remarks,  but  for  that  my  time  is  too  limited." 


IV 
SIGISMOND  STOJOWSKI 

MIND  IN  PIANO  STUDY 

MR.  SIGISMOND  STOJOWSKL,  the  eminent 
Polish  pianist  and  composer,  was  found  one 
morning  in  his  New  York  studio,  at  work 
with  a  gifted  pupil.  He  was  willing  to  relax 
a  little,  however,  and  have  a  chat  on  such 
themes  as  might  prove  helpful  to  both  teacher 
and  student. 

"You  ask  me  to  say  something  on  the  most 
salient  points  in  piano  technic;  perhaps  we 
should  say,  the  points  that  are  most  important 
to  each  individual;  for  no  two  students  are 
exactly  alike,  nor  do  any  two  see  things  in 
precisely  the  same  light.  This  is  really  a  psy- 
chological matter.  I  believe  the  subject  of 
psychology  is  a  very  necessary  study  for  both 
teacher  and  student.  We  all  need  to  know 
more  about  mental  processes  than  we  do.  I 
am  often  asked  how  to  memorize,  for  instance 
• — or  the  best  means  for  doing  this;  another 

25 


26  Piano   Mastery 

psychological  process.  I  recommend  students 
to  read  William  James'  Talks  on  Psychology; 
a  very  helpful  book. 

"The  most  vital  thing  in  piano  playing  is 
to  learn  to  think.  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you 
what  infinite  pains  people  will  take  to  avoid 
thinking?  They  will  repeat  a  technical  illus- 
tration hundreds  of  times  it  may  be,  but  with 
little  or  no  thought  directed  to  the  perform- 
ance. Such  work  is  absolutely  useless.  Per- 
haps that  is  a  little  too  strong.  With  countless 
repetitions  there  may  at  last  come  to  be  a  little 
improvement,  but  it  will  be  very  small. 

"There  is  quite  a  variety  of  views  as  to  what 
the  essentials  of  piano  technic  are;  this  is  a 
subject  on  which  teachers,  unluckily,  do  not 
agree.  For  instance,  on  the  point  of  finger 
lifting  there  is  great  diversity  of  opinion. 
Some  believe  in  raising  the  fingers  very  high, 
others  do  not.  Lifting  the  fingers  high  is  not 
good  for  the  tone,  though  it  may  be  used  for 
velocity  playing.  I  use  quite  the  reverse 
where  I  wish  beautiful,  singing,  tone  quality. 
The  young  pupil,  at  the  beginning,  must  of 
course  learn  to  raise  fingers  and  make  precise 
movements;  when  greater  proficiency  is 
reached,  many  modifications  of  touch  are  used. 
That  the  best  results  are  not  more  often  ob- 


t'h»tt>  /.(/  llnrin  <t  San/unl.  .V.  1". 


Sigismond   Stojotvski  27 

tained  in  piano  teaching  and  study,  is  as  much 
the  fault  of  the  teacher  as  the  pupil.  The 
latter  is  usually  willing  to  be  shown  and  anx- 
ious to  learn.  It  is  for  the  teacher  to  correctly 
diagnose  the  case  and  administer  the  most  ef- 
ficient remedy. 

NATURAL   TECHNIC 

"There  is  a  certain  amount  of  what  I  might 
call  'natural  technic'  possessed  by  every  one- 
some  one  point  which  is  easy  for  him.  It  is 
often  the  trill.  It  has  frequently  come  under 
my  notice  that  players  with  little  facility  in 
other  ways,  can  make  a  good  trill.  Some 
singers  have  this  gift ;  Mme.  Melba  is  one  who 
never  had  to  study  a  trill,  for  she  was  born 
with  a  nightingale  in  her  throat.  I  knew  a 
young  man  in  London  who  was  evidently  born 
with  an  aptitude  for  octaves.  He  had  won- 
derful wrists,  and  could  make  countless  repe- 
titions of  the  octave  without  the  least  fatigue. 
He  never  had  to  practise  octaves,  they  came 
to  him  naturally. 

"The  teacher's  work  is  botli  corrective  and 
constructive.  He  must  see  what  is  wrong  and 
be  able  to  correct  it.  Like  a  physician,  he 
should  find  the  weak  and  deficient  parts  and 
build  them  up.  He  should  have  some  remedy 


28  Piano   Mastery 

at  his  command  that  will  fit  the  needs  of  each 
pupil. 

"I  give  very  few  etudes,  and  those  I  ad- 
minister in  homeopathic  doses.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  play  through  a  mass  of  etudes  to  be- 
come a  good  pianist.  Much  of  the  necessary 
technic  may  be  learned  from  the  pieces  them- 
selves, though  scales  and  arpeggios  must  form 
part  of  the  daily  routine. 

KEEPING    UP   A  REPERTOIRE 

"In  keeping  a  large  number  of  pieces  in 
mind,  I  may  say  that  the  pianist  who  does 
much  teaching  is  in  a  sense  taught  by  his 
pupils.  I  have  many  advanced  pupils,  and  in 
teaching  their  repertoire  I  keep  up  my  own. 
Of  course  after  a  while  one  grows  a  little 
weary  of  hearing  the  same  pieces  rendered  by 
students;  the  most  beautiful  no  longer  seem 
fresh.  My  own  compositions  are  generally  ex- 
ceptions, as  I  do  not  often  teach  those.  To 
the  thoughtful  teacher,  the  constant  hearing  of 
his  repertoire  by  students  shows  him  the  dif- 
ficulties that  younger  players  have  to  en- 
counter, and  helps  him  devise  means  to  aid 
them  to  conquer  these  obstacles.  At  the  same 
I  ime  there  is  this  disadvantage :  the  pianist  can- 
not fail  to  remember  the  places  at  which  such 


Sigismond   Stojowski  29 

and  such  a  student  had  trouble,  forgot  or 
stumbled.  This  has  happened  to  me  at  va- 
rious times.  In  my  recitals  I  would  be  play- 
ing ahead,  quite  unconscious  that  anything  un- 
toward could  occur — wholly  absorbed  in  my 
work ;  when,  at  a  certain  point,  the  recollection 
would  flash  over  me — this  is  where  such  or  such 
a  pupil  stumbled.  The  remembrance  is  some- 
times so  vivid  that  I  am  at  some  effort  to  keep 
my  mental  balance  and  proceed  with  smooth- 
ness and  certainty. 

"Yes,  I  go  over  my  pieces  mentally,  espe- 
cially if  I  am  playing  an  entirely  new  pro- 
gram which  I  have  never  played  before ;  other- 
wise I  do  not  need  to  do  so  much  of  it. 

FILLING  IN   A   PASSAGE 

"You  suggest  that  a  composer  may  fill  in 
or  make  up  a  passage,  should  he  forget  a  por- 
tion of  the  piece  when  playing  in  public. 
True;  but  improvising  on  a  well-known  work 
is  rather  a  dangerous  thing  to  do  in  order  to 
improve  a  bad  case.  Apropos  of  this,  I  am 
reminded  of  an  incident  which  occurred  at  one 
of  my  European  recitals.  It  was  a  wholly  new 
program  which  I  was  to  give  at  Vevay.  I  had 
been  staying  with  Paderewski,  and  went  from 
Morges  to  Vevay,  to  give  the  recital,  In  my 


30  Piano   Mastery 

room  at  the  hotel  I  was  mentally  reviewing 
the  program,  when  in  a  Mendelssohn  Fugue, 
I  found  I  had  forgotten  a  small  portion.  I 
could  remember  what  went  before  and  what 
came  after,  but  this  particular  passage  had 
seemingly  gone.  I  went  down  to  the  little 
parlor  and  tried  the  fugue  on  the  piano,  but 
could  not  remember  the  portion  in  question. 
I  hastened  back  to  my  room  and  constructed 
a  bridge  which  should  connect  the  two  parts. 
When  the  time  came  to  play  the  fugue  at  the 
recital,  it  all  went  smoothly  till  I  was  well  over 
the  weak  spot,  which,  it  seems,  I  really  played 
as  Mendelssohn  wrote  it.  As  I  neared  the  last 
page,  the  question  suddenly  occurred  to  me, 
what  had  I  done  with  that  doubtful  passage? 
What  had  really  happened  I  could  not  remem- 
ber; and  the  effort  to  recall  whether  I  had 
played  Mendelssohn  or  Stojowski  nearly 
brought  disaster  to  that  last  page. 

"As  soon  as  my  season  closes  here  I  shall 
go  to  London  and  bring  out  my  second  piano 
concerto  with  the  London  Symphony  Orches- 
tra, under  Nikisch.  I  shall  also  play  various 
recitals." 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  the 
orchestral  concert  at  Queen's  Hall,  when  Mr. 


Sigismond   Stojowski  31 

Stojowski  was  the  soloist.  It  was  pleasant  to 
see  the  enthusiasm  aroused  by  the  concerto  it- 
self, and  the  performance  of  it  by  the  artist. 


V 
"  RUDOLPH  GANZ 

CONSERVING   ENERGY   IN   PIANO   PRACTISE 

"ONE  of  the  most  necessary  things  is  the 
conserving  of  vital  energy  in  piano  practise," 
said  the  pianist  Rudolph  Ganz  to  me  one 
day.  "The  wrong  way  is  to  continually  prac- 
tise the  piece  as  though  you  were  playing  it 
in  public — that  is  to  say,  with  all  possible  en- 
ergy and  emotion.  Some  of  the  pianists  now 
before  the  public  do  this,  and  it  always  makes 
me  sorry  for  them,  for  I  know  what  a  need- 
less waste  of  energy  and  vital  force  it  is.  Ah 
actor,  studying  his  lines,  does  not  need  to  con- 
tinually shout  them  in  order  to  learn  how  they 
should  be  interpreted.  Neither  does  the  lyric 
actress  practise  her  roles  with  full  tones,  for 
she  is  well  used  to  saving  her  voice.  Why 
then  should  the  pianist  exhaust  himself  and 
give  out  his  whole  strength  merely  in  the  daily 
routine  of  practise?  I  grant  this  principle  of 
saving  one's  self  may  not  be  easy  to  learn,  but 
it  should  be  acquired  by  all  players,  great  and 

32 


Rudolph   Ganz  33 

small.  I  think  a  pianist  should  be  able  to 
practise  five  or  six  hours  daily  without  fatigue. 
If  the  player  is  accustomed  to  husband  his 
vital  force  during  the  daily  routine  of  prac- 
tise, he  can  play  a  long,  exacting  program  in 
public  without  weariness.  In  every  day  prac- 
tise one  often  does  not  need  to  play  forte  nor 
use  the  pedals ;  a  tone  of  medium  power  is  suf- 
ficient. Suppose,  for  instance,  you  are  study- 
ing the  Chopin  Etude  Op.  10,  No.  12,  with 
the  left  hand  arpeggio  work.  Every  note  and 
finger  must  be  in  place,  every  mark  of  phras- 
ing obeyed ;  but  during  practise  hours  you  need 
not  give  the  piece  all  its  dashing  vigor  and 
bravura  at  every  repetition.  Such  a  course 
would  soon  exhaust  the  player.  Yet  every 
effect  you  wish  to  make  must  be  thoroughly 
studied,  must  be  in  mind,  and  used  at  intervals 
whenever  a  complete  performance  of  the  piece 
is  desired. 

"As  I  said  before,  it  is  often  difficult  to  con- 
trol the  impulse  to  'let  loose,'  if  the  work  is  an 
exciting  one.  At  a  recent  rehearsal  with  the 
Symphony  Orchestra,  I  told  the  men  I  would 
quietly  run  through  the  concerto  I  was  to  play, 
merely  indicating  the  effects  I  wanted.  We 
began,  but  in  five  minutes  I  found  myself  play- 
ing with  full  force  and  vigor. 


34  Piano    Mastery 

"In  regard  to  methods  in  piano  study  there 
seems  to  be  a  diversity  of  opinion,  resulting,  I 
think,  from  the  various  ways  of  touching  the 
keys — some  players  using  the  tip  and  others 
the  ball  of  the  finger.  Busoni  may  be  cited 
as  one  who  employs  the  end  of  the  finger — 
Pauer  also;  while  the  Frenchman,  Cortot,  who 
has  an  exquisite  tone,  plays  with  the  hand  al- 
most flat  on  the  keys,  a  method  which  certainly 
insures  weight  of  hand  and  arm.  Of  course 
players  generally,  and  teachers  also,  agree  on 
the  employment  of  arm  weight  in  playing. 
The  principles  of  piano  technic  are  surely  but 
few.  Was  it  not  Liszt  who  said:  'Play  the 
right  key  with  the  right  finger,  the  right  tone 
and  the  right  intention — that  is  all !'  It  seems 
to  me  piano  technic  has  been  pushed  to  its  limit, 
and  there  must  be  a  reversal;  we  may  return 
to  some  of  the  older  methods  of  touch  and 
technic. 

"The  vital  thing  in  piano  playing  is  to  bring 
out  the  composer's  meaning,  plus  your  own 
inspiration  and  feeling.  You  must  study 
deeply  into  the  composer's  idea,  but  you  must 
also  put  your  own  feeling,  intensity  and  emo- 
tion into  the  piece.  And  not  only  must  you 
feel  the  meaning  yourself,  but  you  must  play 
it  in  a  way  to  touch  others.  There  are  many 


35 


pianists  who  are  not  cultured  musicians;  who 
think  they  know  their  Beethoven  because  they 
can  play  a  few  sonatas.  In  music  'knowledge 
is  power.'  We  need  all  possible  knowledge, 
but  we  also  need  to  feel  the  inspiration.  One 
of  the  greatest  teachers  of  our  time  holds  that 
personal  inspiration  is  not  necessary;  for  the 
feeling  is  all  in  the  music  itself.  All  we  have 
to  do  is  to  play  with  such  and  such  a  dynamic 
quality  of  tone.  Like  a  country  doctor  meas- 
uring out  his  drugs,  this  master  apportions  so 
many  grains  of  power  for  forte,  for  mezzo,  for 
piano,  and  so  on.  This  plan  puts  a  damper 
on  individuality  and  enthusiasm,  for  it  means 
that  everything  must  be  coldly  calculated. 
Such  playing  does  not  really  warm  the  heart. 
"I  believe  in  teaching  tonal  contrasts  and 
tone  color  even  to  a  beginner.  Why  should 
not  the  child  form  a  concept  of  forte  and  piano, 
and  so  get  away  from  the  deadly  monotony  of 
mezzo?  I  have  written  some  little  descriptive 
piano  pieces,  and  my  small  boy  learned  one  of 
them  to  play  for  me.  There  is  a  closing  phrase 
like  this,"  and  Mr.  Ganz  illustrated  at  the 
piano;  "it  is  to  be  played  forte,  and  is  followed 
by  a  few  notes  to  be  touched  very  softly,  like 
an  echo.  It  was  really  beautiful  to  see  how 
the  little  fellow  reached  out  for  the  pedal  to 


36  Piano   Mastery 

make  the  loud  part  more  emphatic,  and  then 
played  the  echo  very  softly  and  neatly.     He 
had  grasped  the  first  principle  of  tone  color- 
namely  tone  contrast,  and  also  a  poetic  idea. 

"There  are  so  many  wonder  children  in  these 
days,  and  many  marvels  are  accomplished  by 
infant  prodigies.  Very  often,  however,  these 
wonder  children  develop  no  further;  they  fail 
to  fulfil  their  early  promise,  or  the  expectations 
held  of  them. 

"A  youthful  wonder  in  the  field  of  com- 
position is  Eric  Korngold,  whose  piano  sonata 
I  played  in  my  New  York  recital.  I  have 
played  this  work  eight  times  in  all,  during  my 
present  tour,  often  by  request.  To  me  it  is 
most  interesting.  I  cannot  say  it  is  logical 
in  the  development  of  its  ideas ;  it  often  seems 
as  though  the  boy  threw  in  chords  here  and 
there  with  no  particular  reason.  Thus  the  ef- 
fort of  memorizing  is  considerable,  for  I  must 
always  bear  in  mind  that  this  C  major  chord 
has  a  C  sharp  in  it,  or  that  such  and  such  a 
chord  is  changed  into  a  most  unusual  one.  One 
cannot  predict  whether  the  boy  will  develop 
further.  As  you  say,  Mozart  was  an  infant 
prodigy,  but  if  we  judge  from  the  first  little 
compositions  that  have  been  preserved,  he  be- 
gan very  simply  and  worked  up,  whereas  Korn- 


Rudolph    Ganz  37 

gold  begins  at  Richard  Strauss.  His  com- 
positions are  full  of  the  influence  of  Strauss. 
The  critics  have  much  to  say  for  and  against 
these  early  works.  I  do  not  know  the  young 
composer  personally,  though  he  has  written 
me.  In  a  recent  letter  which  I  have  here,  he 
expresses  the  thought  that,  though  the  critics 
have  found  many  things  to  disapprove  of  in 
the  sonata,  the  fact  that  I  have  found  it  worth 
studying  and  bringing  out  more  than  compen- 
sates him  for  all  adverse  criticism.  To  make 
the  work  known  in  the  great  musical  centers 
of  America  is  surely  giving  it  wide  publicity." 
On  a  later  occasion,  Mr.  Ganz  said: 
"I  thoroughly  believe  in  preserving  one's  en- 
thusiasm for  modern  music,  even  though,  at 
first  glance,  it  does  not  attract  one,  or  indeed 
seems  almost  impossible.  I  enjoy  studying 
new  works,  and  learning  what  is  the  modern 
trend  of  thought  in  piano  work;  it  keeps  me 
young  and  buoyant. 

"One  of  the  novelties  lately  added  to  my 
repertoire  is  the  Haydn  sonata  in  D.  On  the 
same  program  I  place  the  Korngold  sonata. 
A  hundred  years  and  more  divide  the  two 
works.  While  I  revere  the  old,  it  interests  me 
to  keep  abreast  of  the  new  thought  in  musical 
art  and  life." 


VI 
TINA  LERNER 

AN  AUDIENCE   IS   THE   BEST   TEACHER 

BETWEEN  the  many  engagements  that 
crowded  upon  the  close  of  her  long  American 
tour,  Miss  Tina  Lerner  found  time  to  talk 
over  certain  topics  of  significance  which  bear 
upon  pianistic  problems. 

We  began  by  referring  to  the  different 
methods  of  holding  the  hands,  moving  the  fin- 
gers and  touching  the  keys,  as  exemplified  by 
the  various  pianists  now  before  the  public. 

"It  is  true  that  I  play  with  the  ball  of  the 
finger  on  the  key,  which  necessitates  a  flat 
position  of  hand,  with  low  wrist."  Here  the 
pianist  illustrated  the  point  by  playing  several 
pearly  scales  with  straight,  outstretched  fin- 
gers. "I  never  realized,  however,  that  I 
played  in  this  way,  until  Mr.  Ernest  Hutche- 
son,  the  pianist,  of  Baltimore,  recently  called 
my  attention  to  it.  The  fact  is,  I  have  always 
taken  positions  of  body,  arms,  hands  and  fin- 

38 


Tina   Lerner  39 

gers,  which  seemed  to  me  the  most  natural  and 
easy.  This  I  did  when  I  began,  at  the  age  of 
five,  and  I  have  always  kept  to  them,  in  spite 
of  what  various  teachers  have  endeavored  to 
do  for  me.  Fortunately  my  early  teachers 
were  sensible  and  careful ;  they  kept  me  at  the 
classics,  and  did  not  give  too  difficult  pieces. 
The  principles  followed  by  most  great  pianists 
I  believe  are  correct;  but  I  have  always  kept 
to  my  own  natural  way.  In  hand  position, 
therefore,  I  am  individual ;  perhaps  no  one  else 
plays  with  such  a  finger  position,  so  in  this  I 
am  unique. 

"For  some  reason  unknown  to  me,  it  has 
come  to  be  imagined  that  I  have  studied  with 
Leschetizky;  this  is  entirely  refuted  when  I 
say  I  have  never  been  in  Vienna.  It  seems  we 
are  getting  away  from  the  idea  of  helping  our- 
selves out  with  the  name  of  some  great  teacher. 
The  question  should  be:  What  has  the  player 
in  himself,  what  can  he  accomplish?  not,  Whose 
pupil  is  he?  We  know  of  some  of  Lesche- 
tizky's  famous  pupils,  but  we  never  hear  of  the 
thousands  he  must  have  had,  who  have  come 
to  nothing.  A  teacher  can  only  do  a  certain 
amount  for  you;  he  can  give  you  new  ideas, 
which  each  pupil  works  out  for  himself  in  his 
own  way.  The  piano  student  learns  from  so 


40  Piano   Mastery 

many  different  sources.  He  attends  a  piano 
recital  and  acquires  many  ideas  of  touch,  tone, 
phrasing  and  interpretation;  he  hears  a  great 
singer  or  violinist  and  absorbs  a  wholly  new  set 
of  thoughts,  or  he  listens  to  a  grand  orchestra, 
and  gains  more  than  from  all  the  others.  Then 
there  is  life  to  study  from:  experience — liv- 
ing— loving:  all  go  into  the  work  of  the  musi- 
cian. A  musical  career  is  indeed  the  most  ex- 
acting one  that  can  be  chosen. 

"I  have  been  asked  whether  I  prefer  to  play 
for  an  audience  of  'music-lovers'  or  one  of 
'music  knowers.'  Perhaps  an  equal  mixture 
is  the  happy  medium.  Of  the  two  sorts  it 
seems  to  me  the  music-knowers  are  preferable, 
for  even  if  they  are  very  critical,  they  also 
recognize  the  various  points  you  make;  they 
see  and  appreciate  what  you  are  striving  for. 
They  are  not  inclined  to  say,  'I  don't  like  such 
or  such  a  player' ;  for  the  music-knower  under- 
stands the  vast  amount  of  time  and  energy, 
labor  and  talent  that  go  to  make  a  pianist. 
He  rather  says,  'I  prefer  the  playing  of  such 
or  such  an  artist.'  The  word  'like'  in  connec- 
tion with  a  great  artist  seems  almost  an  affront. 
What  does  it  matter  if  his  work  is  not  'liked' 
by  some?  He  knows  it  can  stand  for  what  it 
is — the  utmost  perfection  of  his  powers — of 


Tina   Lerner  41 

himself.  And  after  all  the  audience  is  the 
greatest  teacher  an  artist  can  have;  I  have 
learned  more  from  this  teacher  than  from  any 
other.  In  this  school  I  learn  what  moves  and 
touches  an  audience;  how  to  improve  this  or 
that  passage;  how  to  make  a  greater  climax 
here,  or  more  sympathetic  coloring  there.  For 
in  conceiving  how  a  work  should  sound,  I  get- 
in  my  study  of  it — a  general  idea  of  the  whole, 
and  make  it  as  nearly  perfect  as  I  am  able. 
But  it  has  to  be  tested  and  tried — an  audience 
must  pass  its  opinion — must  set  the  seal  of  ap- 
proval upon  it.  When  the  work  has  been  pol- 
ished by  repeated  trials  in  this  school,  inter- 
pretation then  becomes  crystallized  in  the  mind 
and  the  piece  can  always  be  given  in  nearly 
the  same  way.  A  painter  does  not  change  nor 
repaint  his  picture  each  time  he  exhibits  it; 
why  need  the  musician  change  his  idea  of  the 
interpretation  at  each  repetition  ?  To  trust  too 
much  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment  might 
injure  the  performance  as  a  whole.  When  I 
have  my  ideal  of  the  interpretation  worked  out 
in  mind,  it  becomes  my  sacred  duty  to  play  it 
always  in  this  spirit — always  to  give  my  best. 
I  can  never  think  that  because  I  am  playing 
in  Boston  or  New  York,  I  must  strive  harder 
for  perfection  than  if  I  play  in  a  little  town, 


42  Piano    Mastery 

No,  I  must  give  the  highest  that  is  in  me,  no 
matter  where  it  may  be.  People  sometimes 
ask  me  if  I  am  nervous  before  a  recital.  It  is 
not  that  I  am  afraid  of  people;  but  I  am  al- 
ways anxious  about  being  able  to  realize  my 
ideal,  when  the  moment  comes. 

"I  can  say  I  prefer  playing  in  America  to 
anywhere  else  in  the  world ;  for  there  are  more 
real  appreciation  and  understanding  here  than 
in  any  other  country.  Of  course  the  great 
music  centers  all  over  the  world  are  about  the 
same;  but  the  difference  lies  in  the  smaller 
cities,  which  in  America  are  far  more  advanced 
musically  than  in  Europe.  I  have  proved  this 
to  be  the  case  repeatedly.  Not  long  ago  I  was 
booked  for  a  couple  of  recitals  in  a  small  town 
of  not  more  than  two  thousand  inhabitants. 
When  I  arrived  at  the  little  place,  and  saw  the 
barn  of  a  hotel,  I  wondered  what  these  people 
could  want  with  piano  recitals.  But  when  I 
came  to  the  college  wheje  I  was  to  play  and 
found  such  a  large,  intelligent  audience  gath- 
ered, some  of  whom  had  traveled  many  miles  to 
be  present,  it  proved  in  what  estimation  music 
was  held.  The  teacher  of  this  school  was  a 
good  musician,  who  had  studied  nine  years  with 
Leschetizky,  in  Vienna ;  the  pupils  understood 
the  numbers  on  the  program,  were  wide  awake, 


Tina   Lerner  43 

and  well  informed  as  to  what  was  going  on  in 
the  world  of  music. 

"One  handicap  the  present  day  pianist  en- 
counters, who  plays  much  with  orchestra,  and 
that  is  the  dearth  of  modern  concertos.  The 
familiar  ten  or  dozen  famous  ones  are  played 
over  and  over,  and  one  seldom  hears  anything 
new.  There  are  new  ones  written,  to  be  sure, 
but  the  public  has  not  learned  to  care  for  them. 
The  beautiful  second  concerto  of  Rachmanin- 
off has  not  made  a  success,  even  in  the  great 
music  centers,  where  the  most  intelligent  audi- 
ences have  heard  it.  I  believe  that  if  an  audi- 
ence of  the  best  musicians  could  be  assembled 
in  a  small  room  and  this  work  could  be  played 
to  them,  they  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  its  beauties.  I  am  now  studying  a  new 
concerto  by  Haddon  Wood,  which  you  see  in 
manuscript  there  on  the  piano;  it  is  one  I  find 
very  beautiful." 

A  subsequent  conversation  with  the  artist 
elicited  the  following: 

"I  might  say  that  I  began  my  music  when 
about  four  years  old,  by  playing  the  Russian 
National  Hymn,  on  a  toy  piano  containing 
eight  keys,  which  had  been  given  me.  My 
older  sister,  who  was  studying  the  piano,  no- 
ticed this,  showed  me  a  few  things  about  the 


44  Piano   Mastery 

notes,  and  I  constantly  picked  out  little  tunes 
and  pieces  on  the  real  piano.  Finally  one  day 
my  sister's  teacher,  Rudolph  Heim,  came  to  the 
house,  mainly  on  my  account.  This  was  in 
Odessa,  in  the  south  of  Russia,  where  I  was 
born  and  where  I  spent  my  early  years.  On 
this  occasion,  he  wanted  to  look  at  me  and  see 
what  I  could  do.  Unluckily  a  sudden  fit  of 
shyness  overcame  me  and  I  began  to  cry;  the 
exhibition  could  not  take  place,  as  nothing 
could  be  made  out  of  me  that  day.  You  see 
I  was  headstrong  even  at  that  early  age,"  said 
the  young  pianist,  with  one  of  her  charming 
smiles. 

"Soon  after  this  incident,  I  was  taken  to  the 
Professor's  studio.  He  examined  me,  con- 
sidered I  had  talent,  and  thought  it  should  be 
cultivated.  So  he  took  me  in  hand.  I  was 
then  five,  and  my  real  musical  education  began 
at  that  time. 

"From  the  very  first  I  adopted  a  position 
of  hand  which  seemed  to  me  most  convenient 
and  comfortable,  and  no  amount  of  contrary 
instruction  and  advice  has  ever  been  able  to 
make  me  change  it.  I  play  scales  and  pas- 
sages with  low  hand  and  flat  fingers  because 
that  position  seems  the  most  favorable  for  my 
hand.  When  practising,  I  play  everything 


Tina   Lerner  45 

very  slowly,  raising  my  fingers  high  and 
straight  from  the  knuckle  joint.  This  gives 
me  great  clearness  and  firmness.  In  rapid 
passage  work  the  action  is  reduced,  but  the 
position  remains.  I  am  said  to  have  a  clear, 
pearly  touch,  with  quite  sufficient  power  at  my 
command  for  large  works. 

"After  five  years  of  study  with  my  first 
teacher,  Rudolph  Heim,  a  pupil  of  Mosche- 
les,  I  entered  the  Moscow  Conservatory,  and 
continued  my  studies  under  Professor  Pabst, 
brother  and  teacher  of  the  composer  of  that 
name.  I  was  then  ten  years  old.  Professor 
Pabst  was  very  conservative,  very  strict,  and 
kept  me  at  work  on  the  music  of  the  older  mas- 
ters. This  kind  of  music  suits  me,  I  think ;  at 
least  I  enjoy  it.  Even  here  I  still  clung  to 
my  ideas  of  holding  my  hands  and  of  touching 
the  keys,  and  always  expect  to  do  so. 

"I  remained  with  this  professor  about  six 
years  and  then  began  my  public  career. 

"You  ask  about  my  present  studies,  and 
how  I  regulate  my  practise.  During  my 
periods  of  rest  from  concert  work,  I  practise 
a  great  deal — I  wish  I  could  say  all  the  time, 
but  that  is  not  quite  possible.  I  give  an  hour 
or  more  a  day  to  technical  practise.  As  to  the 
material,  I  use  Chopin's  Etudes  constantly, 


46  -     Piano   Mastery 

playing  them  with  high-raised,  outstretched 
fingers,  in  very  slow  tempo.  One  finds  al- 
most every  technical  problem  illustrated  in 
these  etudes:  octaves,  arpeggios,  scales  in 
double  thirds  and  sixths,  repeated  notes,  as 
in  number  7,  broken  chords  and  passage  work. 
I  keep  all  these  etudes  in  daily  practise,  also 
using  some  of  the  Liszt  fitudes  Transcen- 
dantes,  and,  of  course,  Bach.  The  advantage 
of  using  this  sort  of  material  is  that  one  never 
tires  of  it;  it  is  always  interesting  and  beau- 
tiful. With  this  material  well  in  hand,  I  am 
always  ready  for  recital,  and  need  only  to  add 
special  pieces  and  modern  music. 

"In  learning  a  new  work  I  first  study  it 
very  slowly,  trying  to  become  familiar  with  its 
meaning.  I  form  my  concept  of  it  and  live 
with  it  for  months  before  I  care  to  bring  it  for- 
ward. I  try  to  form  an  ideal  conception  of 
the  piece,  work  this  out  in  every  detail,  then 
always  endeavor  to  render  it  as  closely  like  the 
ideal  as  possible." 


VII 
ETHEL  LEGINSKA 

RELAXATION  THE  KEYNOTE  OF  MODERN 
PIANO  PLAYING 

THE  brilliant  young  pianist,  Ethel  Legin- 
ska,  who  is  located  for  a  time  in  America,  was 
seen  in  her  Carnegie  Hall  studio,  on  her  return 
from  a  concert  tour.  The  young  English  girl 
is  a  petite  brunette ;  her  face  is  very  expressive, 
her  manner  at  once  vivacious  and  serious. 
The  firm  muscles  of  her  fine,  shapely  hands 
indicate  that  she  must  spend  many  hours  daily 
at  the  keyboard. 

"Yes,  I  have  played  a  great  deal  in  public— 
all  my  life,  in  fact — ever  since  I  was  six.  I 
began  my  musical  studies  at  Hull,  where  we 
lived;  my  first  teacher  was  a  pupil  of  McFar- 
ren.  Later  I  was  taken  to  London,  where 
some  rich  people  did  a  great  deal  for  me. 
Afterward  I  went  to  Leschetizky,  and  was  with 
him  several  years,  until  I  was  sixteen;  I  also 
studied  in  Berlin.  Then  I  began  my  career, 

47. 


48  Piano   Mastery 

and  concertized  all  over  Europe;  now  I  am  in 
America  for  a  time.  I  like  it  here ;  I  am  fond 
of  your  country  already. 

"The  piano  is  such  a  wonderful  instrument 
to  me ;  I  feel  we  are  only  beginning  to  fathom 
its  possibilities ;  not  in  a  technical  sense,  but  as 
a  big  avenue  for  expression.  For  me  the 
piano  is  capable  of  reflecting  every  mood,  every 
feeling;  all  pathos,  joy,  sorrow — the  good  and 
the  evil  too — all  there  is  in  life,  all  that  one  has 
lived."  (This  recalls  a  recently  published  re- 
mark of  J.  S.  Van  Cleve:  "The  piano  can 
sing,  march,  dance,  sparkle,  thunder,  weep, 
sneer,  question,  assert,  complain,  whisper,  hint ; 
in  one  word  it  is  the  most  versatile  and  plastic 
of  instruments.") 

"As  for  the  technic  of  the  piano,  I  think 
of  it  only  as  the  material — only  as  a  means  to 
an  end.  In  fact  I  endeavor  to  get  away  from 
the  thought  of  the  technical  material,  in  order 
that  I  may  get  at  the  meaning  of  the  music  I 
wish  to  interpret.  I  am  convinced  there  is 
a  great  future  for  the  piano  and  its  music. 
Even  now  we  are  taking  piano  music  very  seri- 
ously, and  are  trying  to  interpret  it  in  a  far 
deeper  and  broader  sense  than  the  pianists  of, 
say,  fifty  years  ago  ever  thought  of  doing.  I 
fancy  if  Clara  Schumann,  for  instance,  could 


Ethel   Leginska  49 

return  and  play  to  us,  or  even  Liszt  himself, 
we  should  not  find  their  playing  suited  to  this 
age  at  all.  Some  of  us  yet  remember  the 
hand  position  Mme.  Schumann  had,  the  lack 
of  freedom  in  fingers  and  arms.  It  was  not 
the  fashion  of  her  time  to  play  with  the  relaxed 
freedom,  with  the  breadth  and  depth  of  style 
which  we  demand  of  artists  to-day.  In  those 
days  relaxation  had  not  received  the  attention 
it  deserved,  therefore  we  should  probably  find 
the  playing  of  the  greatest  artists  of  a  former 
generation  stiff  and  angular,  in  spite  of  all  we 
have  heard  of  their  wonderful  performances. 

"Relaxation  is  a  hobby  with  me;  I  believe  in 
absolute  freedom  in  every  part  of  the  arm 
anatomy,  from  the  shoulder  down  to  the  finger- 
tips. Stiffness  seems  to  me  the  most  repre- 
hensible thing  in  piano  playing,  as  well  as  the 
most  common  fault  with  all  kinds  of  players. 
When  people  come  to  play  for  me,  that  is  the 
thing  I  see  first  in  them,  the  stiffness.  While 
living  in  Berlin,  I  saw  much  of  Mme.  Teresa 
Carreno,  and  she  feels  the  same  as  I  do  about 
relaxation,  not  only  at  the  keyboard,  but  when 
sitting,  moving  about  or  walking.  She  has 
thought  along  this  line  so  constantly,  that 
sometimes,  if  carrying  something  in  hand,  she 
will  inadvertently  let  it  drop,  without  realiz- 


50  Piano   Mastery 

ing  it — from  sheer  force  of  the  habit  of  relaxa- 
tion. 

"You  ask  how  I  would  begin  with  a  young 
pupil  who  never  has  had  lessons.  I  use  the 
principle  of  relaxation  first  of  all,  loosening 
arms  and  wrists.  This  principle  can  be  taught 
to  the  youngest  pupil.  The  wrist  is  elevated 
and  lowered,  as  the  hand  is  formed  on  the  keys 
in  its  five  finger  position,  with  arched  knuckles?. 
It  does  not  take  long  to  acquire  this  relaxed 
condition ;  then  come  the  finger  movements.  I 
do  not  believe  in  lifting  the  fingers  high  above 
the  keys;  this  takes  time  and  interferes  with 
velocity  and  power.  I  lift  my  fingers  but  little 
above  the  keys,  yet  I  have  plenty  of  power, 
all  the  critics  agree  on  that.  In  chords  and 
octaves  I  get  all  the  power  I  need  by  grasp- 
ing the  keys  with  weight  and  pressure.  I  do 
not  even  prepare  the  fingers  in  the  air,  before 
taking  the  chord;  I  do  not  find  it  necessary." 
Here  the  pianist  played  a  succession  of  ring- 
ing chords,  whose  power  and  tonal  quality  bore 
out  her  words;  the  fingers  seemed  merely  to 
press  and  cling;  there  was  no  striking  nor  per- 
cussion. 

"To  return  to  the  beginning  pupil.  As  for 
a  book  to  start  with,  I  often  use  the  one  by 
Damm,  though  any  foundational  work  may 


Ethel   Leginska  51 

be  employed,  so  long  as  correct  principles  are 
taught.  It  is  said  by  Leschetizky  that  he  has 
no  method.  That  may  be  understood  to  mean 
a  book,  for  he  certainly  has  what  others  would 
call  a  method.  There  are  principles  and  vari- 
ous sets  of  exercises  to  be  learned;  but  it  is 
quite  true  that  none  of  the  Vorbereiters  use  a 
book. 

"In  teaching  the  piano,  as  you  know,  every 
pupil  is  different;  each  has  his  or  her  own  pe- 
culiar hand,  and  a  different  degree  of  intel- 
ligence. So  each  pupil  must  be  treated  dif- 
ferently. This  is  really  an  advantage  to  the 
teacher;  for  it  would  be  very  monotonous  if  all 
pupils  were  alike. 

"The  piano  is  such  a  revealer  of  character; 
I  need  only  to  hear  a  person  play  to  know  what 
sort  of  character  he  has.  If  one  is  inclined  to 
much  careful  detail  in  everything,  it  comes  out 
in  the  playing.  If  one  is  indolent  and  indif- 
ferent, it  is  seen  the  moment  one  touches  the 
keys;  or  if  one  is  built  on  broad,  generous  lines, 
and  sees  the  dramatic  point  in  life  and  things, 
all  this  is  revealed  at  the  piano. 

"To  refer  again  to  the  subject  of  ringer  ac- 
tion. I  do  not  believe  in  the  so-called  finger 
stroke ;  on  the  contrary  I  advocate  fingers  close 
to  the  keys,  clinging  to  them  whenever  you  can. 


52  Piano   Mastery 

This  is  also  Arthur  Schnabel's  idea.  You 
should  hear  Schnabel;  all  Berlin  is  wild  over 
him,  and  whenever  he  gives  a  concert  the 
house  is  sold  out.  He  has  quantities  of  pupils 
also,  and  is  quite  a  remarkable  teacher.  One 
point  I  insist  upon  which  he  doesn't :  I  will  not 
allow  the  joint  of  the  finger  next  the  tip  to 
break  or  give  in.  I  can  not  stand  that,  but 
Schnabel  doesn't  seem  to  care  about  it;  his 
mind  is  filled  with  only  the  big,  broad  things  of 
music. 

"In  regard  to  memorizing  piano  composi- 
tions. I  do  it  phrase  by  phrase,  and  at  the  in- 
strument, unless  I  am  traveling  or  unable  to 
get  to  a  piano,  in  which  case  I  think  it  out  from 
the  notes.  If  the  piece  is  very  difficult  I  take 
a  short  passage  of  two  or  three  measures  and 
play  each  hand  separately  and  then  together; 
but  generally  I  play  the  passage  complete — 
say  half  a  dozen  times  with  the  notes,  and  then 
repeat  it  the  same  number  of  times  from  mem- 
ory. Perhaps  the  next  day  I  have  forgotten 
it,  so  the  work  has  to  be  done  over  again;  the 
second  time,  however,  it  generally  sticks. 

"My  great  longing  and  ambition  is  to  write 
music,  to  become  a  composer.  With  this  end 
in  view,  I  give  whatever  time  I  am  able  to  the 


Ethel   Leginska  53 

study  of  composition.  I  hope  some  day  to 
create  something  that  will  be  worthy  the  high 
aim  I  have  before  me." 


VIII 

BERTHA  TIERING  TAPPER 

MASTERING  PIANISTIC  PROBLEMS 

IF  environment  and  atmosphere  are  inspira- 
tional aids  to  piano  teaching  and  playing,  the 
students  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Tapper  have  the  in- 
centives of  both  in  their  lesson  hours.  Her 
apartments  on  the  Drive  have  the  glory  of  sun- 
light all  the  long  afternoons.  Outside  the 
Hudson  shimmers  in  blue  and  gold;  indoors 
all  is  harmonious  and  home-like.  In  the  large 
music-room,  facing  the  river,  two  grand  pianos 
stand  side  by  side;  there  are  many  portraits 
and  mementoes  of  the  great  in  music;  fresh 
flowers,  books — everything  to  uplift  thought; 
while  in  the  midst  of  it  all  is  Mrs.  Tapper 
herself,  the  serious,  high-minded,  inspiring 
teacher;  the  "mother  confessor"  to  a  large  num- 
ber of  young  artists  and  teachers. 

"Music  study  means  so  much  more  than 
merely  exercising  the  fingers,"  she  said;  "the 
student  should  have  a  good  all-round  educa- 
tion. When  young  people  come  to  me  for  in- 

54 


Bertha   Fiering    Tapper  55 

struction,  I  ask  what  they  are  doing  in  school. 
If  they  say  they  have  left  school  in  order  to 
devote  their  whole  time  to  the  piano,  I  say, 
'Go  back  to  your  school,  and  come  to  me  later, 
when  you  have  finished  your  school  course.' 
It  is  true  that  in  rare  cases  it  may  be  advisable 
for  the  student  to  leave  school,  but  he  should 
then  pursue  general  or  special  studies  at  home. 
I  often  wish  the  music  student's  education  in 
this  country  could  be  arranged  as  it  is  in  at 
least  one  of  the  great  music  schools  in  Russia. 
There  the  mornings  are  given  to  music,  while 
general  studies  are  taken  up  later  in  the  day. 
It  is  really  a  serious  problem,  here  in  America, 
this  fitting  in  music  with  other  studies.  Both 
public  and  private  schools  try  to  cover  so  much 
ground  that  there  is  very  little  time  left  for 
music  or  anything  else.  The  music  pupil  also 
needs  to  know  musical  literature,  history  and 
biography,  to  be  familiar  with  the  lives  and 
writings  of  the  great  composers.  Take  the 
letters  and  literary  articles  of  Robert  Schu- 
mann, for  instance.  How  interesting  and  in- 
spiring they  are! 

"In  regard  to  methods  in  piano  study  my 
principles  are  based  wholly  upon  my  observa- 
tions of  Leschetizky's  work  with  me  personally, 
or  with  others.  What  I  know  he  has  taught 


56  Piano   Mastery 

me;  what  I  have  achieved  I  owe  to  him.  My 
first  eight  weeks  in  Vienna  were  spent  in  learn- 
ing, first,  to  control  position  and  condition  of 
hands  and  arms  according  to  the  law  of  bal- 
ance; secondly,  to  direct  each  motion  with  the 
utmost  accuracy  and  speed.  To  accomplish 
this  I  began  with  the  most  elementary  exercises 
in  five-finger  position,  using  one  finger  at  a 
time.  Then  came  the  principles  of  the  scale, 
arpeggios,  chords  and  octaves.  All  these 
things  were  continued  until  every  principle 
was  mastered.  I  practised  at  first  an  hour  a 
day,  then  increased  the  amount  as  my  hands 
grew  stronger  and  the  number  of  exercises  in- 
creased. 

"Next  came  the  study  of  tone  production  in 
various  forms,  a  good  quality  invariably  being 
the  result  of  a  free  condition  of  the  arm  com- 
bined with  strength  of  fingers  and  hands. 

"The  Leschetizky  principles  seem  to  me  the 
most  perfect  and  correct  in  every  particular. 
Yes,  there  are  several  books  of  the  method,  by 
different  authors,  but  I  teach  the  principles 
without  a  book.  The  principles  themselves  are 
the  essential  things.  I  aim  to  build  up  the 
hand,  to  make  it  strong  and  dependable  in 
every  part,  to  fill  out  the  weak  places  and 
equalize  it.  That  this  may  be  thoroughly  and 


Bertha   Fiering    Tapper  57 

successfully  accomplished,  I  require  that  noth- 
ing but  technical  exercises  be  used  for  the  first 
nine,  ten,  or  twelve  weeks.  We  begin  with  the 
simplest  exercises,  one  ringer  at  a  time,  then 
two,  three  and  so  on  through  the  hand.  I  be- 
lieve in  thus  devoting  all  the  practise  time  to 
technic,  for  a  certain  period,  so  that  the  mind  is 
free  to  master  the  principles,  undisturbed  by 
piece  playing.  When  the  principles  have  been 
assimilated,  the  attention  can  then  be  directed 
to  the  study  of  music  itself.  If  any  weak 
places  appear  in  the  hand  from  time  to  time, 
they  can  be  easily  corrected. 

"If  a  pupil  comes  to  me  who  has  played  a 
great  deal  but  with  no  idea  of  the  principles 
of  piano  playing,  who  does  not  know  how  to 
handle  herself  or  the  keyboard,  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  stop  everything  and  get  ready  to 
play.  If  you  attempt  even  a  simple  sonata 
with  no  legato  touch,  no  idea  of  chord  or  scale 
playing,  you  can  not  make  the  piece  sound 
like  anything.  It  is  like  a  painter  trying  to 
paint  without  brushes,  or  an  artist  attempting 
to  make  a  pen  and  ink  drawing  with  a  blunt 
lead  pencil;  to  do  good  work  you  must  have 
the  tools  to  work  with. 

"For  application  of  all  principles,  the  stud- 
ies of  Czerny,  Op.  299,  740,  and  others,  offer 


58  Piano   Mastery 

unequaled  opportunity.  They  are  simple,  di- 
rect, and  give  the  student  a  chance  for  un- 
divided attention  to  every  position  taken  and 
to  every  motion  made. 

"What  happens  afterward  is  altogether  ac- 
cording to  the  individual  characteristics  of  the 
student.  How  to  recognize  these  and  deal 
with  them  to  the  best  advantage  is  the  inter- 
esting task  of  my  great  master  (and  those 
who  try  to  follow  in  his  steps) — the  man  of 
keenest  intelligence,  of  profound  learning  and 
experience.  To  learn  this  lesson  from  him  has 
been  my  greatest  aim,  and  to  see  him  at  work, 
as  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  do  for  several 
summers,  has  been  of  the  greatest  influence  and 
inspiration  in  my  own  work. 

"My  chief  endeavor  is  to  create  a  desire  for 
good  musicianship.  To  this  end  I  insist  upon 
the  study  of  theory,  harmony,  ear-training  and 
analysis.  In  the  piano  lessons  I  do  not  have 
sufficient  time  to  teach  these  things.  I  have 
assistant  teachers  who  help  me  with  these  sub- 
jects and  also  with  the  technical  training. 
Once  a  month  during  the  season,  my  assistant 
teachers  bring  their  pupils  to  play  for  me,  and 
we  have  a  class  in  piano  teaching.  There  are 
sometimes  eighteen  or  twenty  students  who 
come  to  a  class.  I  can  in  this  way  supervise 


Bertha   Fiering    Tapper  59 

all  the  work  done,  and  keep  in  touch  with  my 
teachers,  their  work,  and  with  all  the  students. 

"On  the  first  Saturday  of  the  month  I  have 
my  own  pupils  here  for  a  class;  they  play  for 
me  and  for  each  other.  Everything  is  played 
from  memory,  not  a  printed  note  is  used. 
Students  tell  me  it  is  very  difficult  to  play  here, 
where  all  listen  so  intently.  Especially  is  it 
difficult  the  first  time  a  student  plays  in  class, 
to  keep  the  mind  wholly  on  what  he  is  doing, 
with  sufficient  concentration.  Later  on,  at  the 
end  of  the  season,  it  comes  easier. 

"This  idea  of  separating  the  technical  work 
at  the  outset  from  the  study  of  music  itself, 
secures,  in  my  opinion,  the  most  perfect  foun- 
dation, and  later  on  the  best  results.  It  is 
sometimes  wonderful  how,  with  proper  train- 
ing, the  hand  will  improve  and  develop  in  a 
comparatively  short  time.  I  often  marvel  at  it 
myself." 

The  writer  had  the  privilege  of  being  one 
of  the  guests  at  the  last  audition  of  the  season. 
Eight  or  nine  young  artists  played  a  long  and 
difficult  program.  Among  the  numbers  were 
a  Beethoven  sonata,  entire;  Chopin's  Ballade 
in  A  flat  major;  Cesar  Franck,  Prelude, 
Fugue  and  Variations;  a  Mozart  Fantaisie; 
Grieg  Concerto,  first  movement;  Weber's  Con- 


60  Piano   Mastery 

certstiick,  and  Chopin's  Scherzo  in  E.  The 
recital  was  most  instructive  from  an  educa- 
tional point  of  view.  All  the  players  had  re- 
pose and  concentration,  and  there  were  no 
noticeable  slips,  though  every  piece  was  played 
from  memory.  Hands  were  well  arched  at  the 
knuckles,  fingers  curved — with  adequate  ac- 
tion at  the  knuckle  joint;  wrists  in  normal  posi- 
tion, and  extremely  loose;  the  whole  arm 
swung  from  the  shoulder  and  poised  over  the 
keys,  thus  adjusting  itself  to  every  requirement 
of  the  composition.  Every  note  had  its 
amount  of  hand  or  arm  weight.  The  tone 
quality  was  full  and  singing.  These  points 
were  exemplified  even  in  the  playing  of  the 
youngest  pupils.  Furthermore  they  had  an 
intelligent  grasp  of  the  meaning  of  the  music 
they  played,  and  brought  it  out  with  convic- 
tion, power,  and  brilliancy. 


IX 
CARL  M.  ROEDER 

PROBLEMS  OF  PIANO  TEACHERS 

"THE  progressive  teacher's  method  must  be 
one  of  accretion,"  said  Carl  Roeder,  when 
interviewed  between  lesson  hours  in  his  de- 
lightful studio  in  Carnegie  Hall.  "He  gains 
ideas  from  many  methods  and  sources,  and 
these  he  assimilates  and  makes  practical  for 
his  work.  At  the  same  time  he  must  originate 
and  work  out  things  for  himself.  This  has 
been  my  experience. 

"I  was  something  of  a  wonder  child,  and 
at  an  early  age  developed  considerable  facility 
and  brilliancy.  After  knocking  about  as  a 
pupil  of  various  private  teachers  and  conser- 
vatories, I  became,  while  quite  a  young  lad, 
the  pupil  of  de  Konstki,  then  a  lion  of  the  day." 
The  speaker  joined  in  the  laugh  his  remark 
called  up,  which  brought  to  mind  the  Cheva- 
lier's famous  battle-horse,  "The  Awakening  of 
the  Lion." 

61 


62  Piano   Mastery 

"De  Konstki's  style  was  very  brilliant  and 
I  endeavored  to  imitate  him  in  this  respect. 
I  did  quite  a  little  concert  work  at  that  time. 
Realizing,  however,  that  a  pianist's  income 
must  be  rather  precarious,  I  decided  to  teach. 
In  those  youthful  days  I  had  the  idea  that  the 
teacher  of  the  piano  had  an  easy  life.  I  re- 
membered one  of  my  professors,  a  man  of  con- 
siderable reputation,  who  took  the  duties  of  his 
profession  very  lightly.  His  method  of  giv- 
ing a  lesson  was  to  place  the  music  upon  the 
piano,  start  the  pupil  going,  then  retire  to  a 
comfortable  couch,  light  his  pipe  and  smoke 
at  ease,  troubling  himself  little  about  the  pupil's 
doings,  except  occasionally  to  call  out  'Falsch !' 

"So  I,  too,  began  to  teach  the  piano.  But 
I  soon  discovered  that  teaching  was  something 
quite  different  from  what  I  had  imagined 
it  to  be,  and  that  it  was  something  I  knew  very 
little  about.  I  now  set  myself  to  learn  how 
to  teach — how  to  help  those  pupils  who  came 
to  me. 

"One  of  my  first  discoveries  was  that  most 
of  the  pupils  were  afflicted  with  stiff  wrists  and 
arms,  and  that  this  stiffness  must  be  remedied. 
My  own  playing  had  always  been  free,  due  to 
one  of  my  early  teachers  having  thoroughly  in- 
culcated the  principle  of  'weight,'  so  often  ac- 


Carl   M.    Boeder  63 

claimed  in  these  days  as  a  modern  discovery. 
But  how  to  bring  about  this  condition  in  others 
was  a  great  problem.  I  studied  the  Mason 
method,  and  found  many  helpful,  illuminating 
ideas  in  regard  to  relaxation  and  devitalization. 
I  had  some  lessons  with  S.  B.  Mills,  and  later 
did  considerable  valuable  work  with  Paolo 
Gallico,  who  opened  up  to  me  the  great  store- 
house of  musical  treasure,  and  revealed  to  me 
among  other  things  the  spiritual  technic  of  the 
pianist's  art.  Subsequently  I  investigated 
the  Virgil  and  Leschetizky  methods.  Mr. 
Virgil  has  done  some  remarkable  things  in  the 
way  of  organizing  and  systematizing  technical 
requirements,  and  for  this  we  owe  him  much. 
Such  analyses  had  not  before  been  made  with 
anything  like  the  care  and  minuteness,  and  his 
work  has  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the 
profession.  My  subsequent  studies  with  Har- 
old Bauer  revealed  him  to  be  a  deep  musical 
thinker  and  a  remarkable  teacher  of  the  mean- 
ing of  music  itself. 

"In  my  teaching  I  follow  many  of  the  ideas 
of  Leschetizky,  modified  and  worked  out  in 
the  manner  which  I  have  found  most  useful  to 
my  own  technic  and  to  that  of  my  pupils.  I 
have  formulated  a  method  of  my  own,  based 
on  the  principles  which  form  a  dependable 


64  Piano   Mastery 

foundation  to  build  the  future  structure  upon. 
Each  pupil  at  the  outset  is  furnished  with  a 
blank  book,  in  which  are  written  the  exercises 
thus  developed  as  adapted  to  individual  re- 
quirements. 

FOUNDATIONAL   EXERCISES 

"We  begin  with  table  work.  I  use  about 
ten  different  exercises  which  embody,  as  it 
were,  in  a  nutshell,  the  principles  of  piano 
playing.  The  hand  is  first  formed  in  an 
arched  position,  with  curved  fingers,  and  solidi- 
fied. The  thumb  has  to  be  taught  to  move 
properly,  for  many  people  have  never  learned 
to  control  it  at  all. 

"With  the  hand  in  firm,  solid  position,  and 
the  arm  hanging  freely  from  the  shoulder,  I 
begin  to  use  combined  arm  and  wrist  move- 
ments, aiming  to  get  the  weight  of  the  arm  as 
well  as  its  energy  at  the  complete  disposal  of 
the  finger  tip.  Each  finger  in  turn  is  held 
firmly  in  a  curved  position  and  played  with  a 
rotary  movement  of  arm  and  wrist.  When 
this  can  be  done  we  next  learn  hand  action  at 
the  wrist  from  which  results  the  staccato  touch. 
In  this  form  of  hand  staccato  there  is  an  ele- 
ment of  percussion,  as  you  see,  but  this  ele- 
ment gives  directness  and  precision  to  the 


Carl   M.   Roeder  65 

staccato  touch,  which  in  my  opinion  are  neces- 
sary. After  this  we  come  to  finger  action  it- 
self. This  principle  is  taken  up  thoroughly, 
first  with  one  finger,  then  with  two,  three,  four, 
and  five — in  all  possible  combinations.  In 
this  way  we  come  down  from  the  large  free- 
arm  movements  to  the  smaller  finger  move- 
ments ;  from  the  'general  to  the  particular,'  in- 
stead of  working  from  the  smaller  to  the 
larger.  I  find  it  most  necessary  to  establish 
relaxation  first,  then  strengthen  and  build  up 
the  hand,  before  finger  action  to  any  extent  is 
used.  When  these  foundational  points  have 
been  acquired,  the  trill,  scales,  arpeggios, 
chords,  octaves  and  double  notes  follow  in  due 
course.  At  the  same  time  the  rhythmic  sense 
is  developed,  all  varieties  of  touch  and  dyna- 
mics introduced,  and  harmonic  and  structural 
analysis  dwelt  upon. 

USE  OF  STUDIES 

"Above  the  third  or  fourth  grade  I  make 
frequent  use  of  studies,  selecting  them  from 
various  books.  Duvernoy,  Op.  120;  Berens, 
Op.  61;  Czerny,  Op.  740  I  find  far  more  in- 
teresting than  the  threadbare  299.  Heller  is 
indispensable,  so  melodious  and  musical.  Ar- 
thur Foote's  studies,  Op.  27,  are  very  useful; 


66  Piano   Mastery 

also  MacDowell's,  Op.  39  and  46.  Sometimes 
I  use  a  few  of  Cramer's  and  the  Clement! 
'Gradus,'  though  these  seem  rather  old-fash- 
ioned now. 

"For  more  advanced  pupils  I  find  Harber- 
bier,  Op.  53  especially  applicable;  there  is 
beautiful  work  in  them.  Kessler,  Op.  20,  and 
the  Moszkowski  studies,  Op.  72,  have  splendid 
material  for  the  advanced  player,  and  prepare 
for  Henselt,  Rubinstein,  Chopin  and  Liszt 
etudes.  I  find  that  studies  are  valuable  for 
application  of  technical  principles,  for  reading 
purposes,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  all  the  re- 
finements of  playing.  Some  teachers  believe 
in  applying  the  technic  directly  to  pieces,  and 
use  almost  no  studies;  but  I  think  a  study  is 
often  more  valuable  than  a  piece,  because  a 
definite  technical  principle  is  treated  in  every 
kind  of  way.  Though  I  do  not  require  studies 
to  be  memorized,  they  must  be  played  with  all 
the  finish  of  a  piece,  if  the  pupil  is  to  derive  the 
maximum  of  benefit  from  them. 

BOOKS  THAT   ARE   HELPFUL 

f 

"As  aids  to  my  studies  in  the  art  of  teaching, 
several  books  have  been  most  helpful.  Among 
these  are  two  volumes  by  Dr.  Herman  H. 
Home,  The  Philosophy  of  Education,  and 


Carl   M.    Boeder  67 

The  Psychology  of  Education.  Another 
book,  from  which  I  have  profited  much  is  Wil- 
liam James'  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology. 
Every  teacher  should  possess  it. 

"You  ask  what  method  I  pursue  with  new 
pupils  who  have  played  a  great  deal  of  music 
but  with  little  idea  of  correct  principles  of 
piano  study.  Let  us  take,  for  instance,  one 
who  has  had  lessons  for  years  but  is  in  igno- 
rance of  first  principles.  Arms  and  wrists  are 
stiff,  hands  and  fingers  held  in  cramped  posi- 
tion; no  freedom  anywhere.  My  first  move  is 
to  have  the  pupil  stand  and  learn  to  relax  arms, 
shoulders  and  body;  then  learn  to  breathe. 
But  relaxation,  even  at  first,  is  not  the  only 
thing;  after  devitalization  comes  organization, 
firmness  and  solidity — in  the  right  places.  It 
must  be  understood  at  the  very  beginning  that 
piano  playing  is  far  more  than  sitting  before 
the  instrument  working  the  fingers  six  or  seven 
hours  a  day.  The  mechanical  side  is  only  pre- 
liminary. Some  one  has  said  that  the  factors 
in  playing  are  a  trinity  of  H's — head,  hand 
and  heart.  I  try  at  once  to  awaken  thought, 
to  give  a  wider  outlook,  to  show  that  piano 
playing  is  the  expression,  through  the  medium 
of  tone,  of  all  that  the  poet,  painter  and  phi- 
losopher are  endeavoring  to  show  through 


68  Piano   Mastery 

other  means:  to  this  end  I  endeavor  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  wonders  of  the  visible  uni- 
verse, the  intellectual  achievements  of  men  and 
the  deep  things  of  spiritual  discernment. 

IN   REGARD   TO   INTERPRETATION 

"On  this  subject  I  think  we  should  avoid 
pedantry;  not  to  say  to  the  pupil,  you  must 
play  this  piece  a  certain  way;  but  rather  say, 
I  see  or  feel  it  in  this  way,  and  give  the  reasons 
underlying  the  conception.  I  believe  the  suc- 
cessful teacher  should  be  a  pianist.  He  should 
understand  every  point  and  be  able  to  do  the 
thing,  else  how  can  he  really  show  the  manner 
of  the  doing?  Many  of  the  nuances,  subtle- 
ties of  color  and  phrase,  effects  of  charm  or 
of  bravura,  cannot  be  explained;  they  must 
be  illustrated.  And  furthermore,  only  he  who 
has  been  over  the  road  can  be  a  safe  or  sympa- 
thetic guide.  Tolstoi  realized  he  could  not  be 
of  service  to  the  people  he  would  uplift  unless 
he  lived  among  them,  shared  their  trials  and 
experienced  their  needs.  The  time  has  gone 
by  when  the  musician  and  composer  was  con- 
sidered a  sort  of  freak,  knowing  music  and 
nothing  else.  We  know  the  great  composers 
were  men  of  the  highest  intelligence  and  learn- 
ing, men  whose  aim  was  to  work  out  their 


Carl   M.   Roeder  69 

genius  to  the  utmost  perfection.  Nothing  less 
than  the  highest  would  satisfy  them.  As 
George  Eliot  said,  'Genius  is  the  capacity  for 
taking  infinite  pains.'  Think  of  the  care 
Beethoven  took  with  every  phrase,  how  many 
times  he  did  it  over,  never  leaving  it  till  he 
was  satisfied." 

In  speaking  of  the  great  European  teachers 
Mr.  Roeder  continued: 

"We  hear  much  of  the  Leschetizky  method ; 
but  with  that  master  technic  is  quite  a  second- 
ary matter  over  which,  when  once  the  princi- 
ples are  mastered,  he  troubles  himself  but 
little.  It  is  the  conception  of  the  work  as  a 
whole  which  concerns  him,  how  to  project  it, 
so  to  say,  most  effectively  to  an  audience.  He 
brings  into  prominence  now  this  part,  now 
that,  accenting  here,  slightly  exaggerating 
there,  in  order  to  make  the  picture  more  vivid 
to  the  listener.  Harold  Bauer  is  another  illu- 
minating master  for  those  who  have  a  technical 
equipment  adequate  to  the  performance  of 
great  works  of  piano  literature.  Some  go  to 
him  who  are  not  ready  for  what  he  has  to  give, 
but  to  those  who  can  direct  attention  to  the 
meaning  of  the  music,  he  is  a  wonderful  in- 
spirational force.  First  he  will  point  out  a 
phrase  here,  another  there,  and  so  on  through 


70  Piano   Mastery 

the  piece,  showing  how  the  same  idea  takes  on 
various  aspects  in  the  composer's  thought. 
Then  he  shows  how  to  gather  up  these  differ- 
ent threads  to  form  the  perfect  pattern  which 
the  author  of  the  work  had  in  mind;  and 
finally  the  master  teacher  reaches  down  below 
the  surface  of  form  and  design  to  the  vital  sig- 
nificance of  the  composition,  and  the  disciple 
feels  the  glow  and  power  of  the  revelation. 

"There  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  this 
age  is  superficial,  and  the  great  office  of  art  is 
to  cultivate  that  idealism  which  will  uplift  and 
inspire.  In  an  important  sense  the  teacher 
must  be  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  He 
knows  that  'beautiful  things  are  fashioned 
from  clay,  but  it  has  first  to  pass  through  the 
fire,'  and  only  those  who  can  endure  that 
scorching  can  hope  to  achieve  success. 

QUESTION   OF   PERSONALITY 

"If  asked  to  what  extent  a  player's  person- 
ality enters  into  the  performance,  my  answer 
would  be:  Only  in  so  far  as  the  performance 
remains  true  to  the  composer's  intention.  So 
long  as  personality  illumines  the  picture  and 
adds  charm,  interest,  and  effectiveness  to  it,  it 
is  to  be  applauded;  but  when  it  obstructs  the 


Carl   M.    Boeder  71 

view  and  calls  attention  to  itself  it  should  not 
be  tolerated.     It  is  not  art;  it  is  vanity. 

"Yes,  I  teach  both  high  finger  action  and 
pressure  touch,  once  the  principle  of  arm 
weight  is  thoroughly  established,  although  I 
use  high  finger  action  only  to  develop  finger 
independence  and  precision,  and  for  passages 
where  sharp  delineation  is  required.  I  believe 
in  freedom  of  body,  arm  and  wrist,  a  firm,  solid 
arched  hand  and  set  fingers.  That  freedom  is 
best  which  insures  such  control  of  the  various 
playing  members  as  to  enable  the  player  to 
produce  at  will  any  effect  of  power,  velocity  or 
delicacy  desired;  thereby  placing  the  entire 
mechanical  apparatus  under  complete  subjec- 
tion to  the  mind,  which  dominates  the  perform- 
ance. In  other  words,  I  am  neither  an  anarch- 
ist who  wants  no  government,  namely  unre- 
strained devitalization,  nor  a  socialist,  whose 
cry  is  for  all  government — that  is,  restriction 
and  rigidity.  In  piano  playing,  as  in  all  else, 
4 Virtue  is  the  happy  mean  between  two  vices.' ' 


AN  ARTIST  AT  HOME 

WHEN  one  has  frequently  listened  to  a 
favorite  pianist  in  the  concert  room,  and  has 
studied  impersonally,  so  to  speak,  the  effects  of 
touch,  tone  and  interpretation  produced  dur- 
ing a  recital,  it  is  a  satisfaction  and  delight  to 
come  into  personal  touch  with  the  artist  in  the 
inner  circle  of  the  home;  to  be  able  to  speak 
face  to  face  with  one  who  has  charmed  thou- 
sands from  the  platform,  and  to  discuss  freely 
the  points  which  impress  one  when  listening 
to  a  public  performance. 

It  has  been  my  recent  privilege  thus  to  come 
into  intimate  touch  with  the  artist  pair,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Arthur  Hinton,  the  latter  being 
known  all  over  the  world  as  Katharine  Good- 
son.  They  have  a  quiet,  beautiful  home  in 
London— a  true  artist's  home.  One  feels  at 
once  on  entering  and  enjoying  its  hospitality, 
that  here  at  least  is  one  instance  where  two 

73 


KATIIAKINK  COODHOX 


Katharine   Goodson  73 

musicians  have  perfect  harmony  in  the  home 
life.  Mr.  Hinton,  as  is  widely  known,  is  a 
composer  and  also  a  violinist  and  pianist. 
The  beautiful  music-room,  which  has  been 
added  to  one  side  of  the  house  and  leads  into 
the  garden,  contains  two  grand  pianos  on  its 
raised  platform.  This  music-room  is  Miss 
Goodson's  own  sanctum  and  workroom,  and 
here  piano  concertos,  with  orchestral  accom- 
paniment supplied  on  the  second  piano,  can  be 
studied  ad  infinitum.  Mr.  Hinton  has  his  own 
studio  at  the  top  of  the  house. 

The  garden  music-room  is  lighted  at  one  end 
by  a  great  arched  window,  so  placed  that  the 
trees  of  the  garden  are  seen  through  its  panes. 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  one's  self  in  some  lovely 
sylvan  retreat — which  is  indeed  true!  All  the 
appointments  of  this  room,  and  indeed  of  the 
whole  house,  every  article  of  furniture  and 
each  touch  of  color,  betoken  the  artistic  sense 
for  fitness  and  harmony.  Miss  Goodson  has 
a  keen  and  exquisite  sense  for  harmony  in  col- 
ors as  well  as  for  color  in  the  harmonies  she 
brings  from  her  instrument. 

"My  coming  tour  will  be  the  fifth  I  have 
made  in  America,"  she  said.  "I  enjoy  play- 
ing in  your  country  immensely;  the  cities  of 
New  York,  Boston,  Chicago,  and  Philadelphia 


74  Piano   Mastery 

are  the  most  appreciative  in  the  world.  It  is 
true  we  have  masses  of  concerts  in  London, 
but  few  of  them  are  really  well  attended  and 
people  are  not  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
piano  music  as  you  are  in  America.  And  you 
are  so  appreciative  of  the  best — even  in  the 
smaller  cities. 

"I  can  recall  a  recital  which  I  gave  in  a  city 
of  not  more  than  forty  thousand,  in  the  West. 
The  recital  was  arranged  by  a  musical  club; 
they  asked  for  the  program  some  time  in  ad- 
vance, studied  it  up  and  thus  knew  every  piece 
I  was  to  play.  There  was  an  enormous  audi- 
ence, for  people  came  from  all  the  country 
round.  I  remember  three  little  elderly  ladies 
who  greeted  me  after  the  recital;  in  parting 
they  said,  'You  will  see  us  to-morrow.'  I 
thought  it  over  afterward  and  wondered  what 
they  meant,  for  I  was  to  play  at  a  place  many 
miles  from  there  the  next  night.  What  was 
my  surprise  to  be  greeted  by  the  same  ladies  the 
following  evening.  'You  see,  we  are  here ;  we 
told  you  we  would  come.'  Fancy  taking  a 
trip  from  London  to  Edinburgh  just  to  hear 
a  concert!  For  it  was  a  journey  like  that. 
Such  incidents  show  the  enthusiasm  in  America 
for  music — and  for  piano  music. 

"I  hope  to  play  both  the  Brahms  and  Fade- 


Katharine   Goodson  75 

rewski  concertos  in  America.  To  me  the  lat- 
ter is  a  beautiful  work — the  slow  movement  is 
exquisite.  I  have  as  yet  scarcely  done  any- 
thing with  the  composition,  for  I  have  been 
on  a  long  tour  through  Norway,  Sweden,  and 
Finland.  It  was  most  inspiring  to  play  for 
these  people;  they  want  me  to  come  back  to 
them  now,  but  I  cannot  do  so,  nor  can  I  go 
next  season,  but  after  that  I  shall  go.  I  re- 
turned home  greatly  in  need  of  rest.  I  shall 
now  begin  work  in  earnest,  however,  as  sum- 
mer is  really  the  only  time  I  have  for  study 
throughout  the  year.  I  shall  have  six  full 
weeks  now  before  we  take  our  usual  holiday 
in  the  Grindelwald.  On  the  way  there  we 
shall  stop  at  Merges  and  visit  Paderewski,  and 
then  I  will  go  over  the  concerto  with  him  and 
get  his  ideas  as  to  interpretation. 

MEMORIZING   BY  ANALYSIS 

"You  ask  how  I  memorize.  First  I  go  over 
the  work  several  times  to  get  a  general  idea  of 
the  whole.  Then  I  analyze  it,  for  I  feel  it 
absolutely  necessary  to  know  keys,  chords,  and 
construction.  A  work  should  be  so  well  un- 
derstood along  these  lines  that  it  can  be  played 
in  another  key  as  well  as  in  the  one  in  which  it 
is  written.  For  the  actual  memorizing  of  the 


76  Piano   Mastery 

piece  I  generally  do  it  phrase  by  phrase,  not 
always  'each  hand  alone,'  though  occasionally 
I  do  this  also.  I  remember  learning  the  Bach 
A  minor  Prelude  and  Fugue  in  this  way.  If 
I  were  now  asked  to  play  any  measure  or  pas- 
sage in  any  part  of  it  I  could  do  so;  it  is  mine 
forever,  never  to  be  forgotten." 

Asked  about  the  different  ways  of  teaching 
the  Leschetizky  method  by  various  teachers, 
Miss  Goodson  said: 

"As  we  all  know,  people  claim  to  understand 
and  teach  the  Leschetizky  principles  who  are 
not  competent  to  do  so.  I  do  not  recall,  for 
instance,  that  the  professor  requires  the  tips 
of  the  fingers  to  form  a  straight  line  on  the 
edge  of  the  keys.  I  myself  have  never  done 
this.  I  believe  in  a  perfectly  easy  and  natural 
position  of  hand  at  the  keyboard.  When  this 
is  the  case  the  finger-tips  form  a  curve,  the 
middle  fingers  being  placed  a  little  farther  in 
on  the  keys  than  is  natural  for  the  first  and 
fifth.  Of  course  the  hand  takes  an  arched 
position  and  the  joints  nearest  the  tip  of  the 
fingers  must  be  firm ;  there  should  be  no  waver- 
ing nor  giving  in  there.  The  whole  arm,  of 
course,  is  relaxed,  and  swings  easily  from  the 
shoulder. 


Katharine    Goodson  77 

A   PIANO    HAND 

"I  have,  as  you  say,  a  good  hand  for  the 
piano;  much  depends  on  that;  I  have  always 
had  a  good  deal  of  what  is  called  a  natural 
technic.  Thus  when  I  am  obliged  to  forego 
practising  I  do  not  lose  my  facility;  an  hour's 
work  puts  the  hand  in  condition  again.  What 
do  I  do  to  accomplish  this?  Different  things. 
First  some  finger  movements,  perhaps  with 
fingers  in  an  extended  chord  position;  then 
some  scales  and  arpeggios;  then  a  Chopin 
etude,  and  so  on.  When  practising  regularly, 
I  do  not  generally  work  at  the  piano  more  than 
four  hours  a  day;  it  seems  to  me  that  amount 
is  sufficient,  if  used  with  absolute  concentra- 
tion.'' 

Later  we  adjourned  to  the  pretty  garden 
back  of  the  music-room,  and  here  we  were 
joined  by  a  beautiful  gray  Angora  cat,  the  pet 
and  pride  of  his  mistress,  and  a  very  important 
personage  indeed.  He  has  a  trick  of  climbing 
to  Miss  Goodson's  shoulder,  from  which  point 
of  vantage  he  surveys  the  world  about  him  with 
all  the  complaisance  of  which  an  animal  of 
such  high  degree  is  capable. 


XI 

MARK  HAMBOURG 

FORM,  TECHNIC,  AND  EXPRESSION 

IN  one  of  the  most  quiet,  secluded  quarters 
of  London  can  be  found  the  home  of  the  Rus- 
sian pianist,  Mark  Hambourg.  Mr.  Ham- 
bourg  lives  on  a  terrace,  "far  from  the  mad- 
ding crowd,"  and  difficult  enough  of  access 
to  keep  mere  curiosity  seekers  at  a  distance. 
One  can  scarcely  picture  to  one's  self,  without 
an  actual  sight  of  them,  the  quaint  charm  of 
these  short  passages  or  streets,  usually  termed 
"terraces,"  or  "gardens."  This  particular  ter- 
race looks  out  on  a  restful  green  park,  where 
luxuriant  trees  make  long  shadows  on  the  sun- 
lit turf.  The  house  is  large  and  comfortable 
—built  over  a  hundred  years  ago ;  its  rooms  are 
spacious,  and  the  drawing-room  and  library, 
which  lead  one  into  the  other,  form  a  fine  music 
salon.  Surely,  amid  such  surroundings,  with 
priceless  pictures  and  objets  d'art  all  about, 
with  exquisite  colors,  with  space  and  quiet,  an 

78 


MARK  HAMBOUKO 


Mark   Hambourg  79 

artist  must  find  an  ideal  spot  for  both  work 
and  play.  I  expressed  this  thought  to  Mr. 
Hambourg  when  he  entered ;  then  we  soon  fell 
to  discussing  the  necessary  equipment  of  the 
teacher  and  pianist. 

"I  agree  with  you,"  he  said,  "that  it  is  the 
beginning  of  piano  study  which  is  the  most  dif- 
ficult of  all ;  this  is  where  the  teacher  has  such 
great  responsibility  and  where  so  many  teach- 
ers are  so  incompetent.  Perhaps  there  are 
more  poor  teachers  for  the  piano  than  for  the 
voice.  The  organs  of  voice  production  cannot 
be  seen,  they  can  only  be  guessed  at;  so  there 
may  be  a  little  more  excuse  for  the  vocal 
teacher;  but  for  the  piano  we  have  the  keys  and 
the  fingers.  It  should  not  therefore  be  such 
a  very  difficult  thing  to  learn  to  play  intelli- 
gently and  correctly!  Yet  few  seem  to  have 
got  hold  of  the  right  principles  or  know  how 
to  impart  them." 

"I  have  heard  a  number  of  the  young  pian- 
ists here,"  I  remarked,  "and  they  all  play  with 
very  little  finger  action — with  fingers  close  to 
the  keys.  Do  you  advocate  this  ?" 

LOW    HAND    POSITION 

"Do  not  forget  that  for  centuries  England 
has  been  a  country  of  organists;  without  doubt 


80  Piano   Mastery 

organ  playing  has  had  some  effect  on  the  piano 
touch.  Some  schools  of  piano  playing  advise 
lifting  the  fingers  high  above  the  keys,  with  a 
view  to  producing  greater  power;  but  I  think 
the  tone  thus  produced  is  often  of  a  somewhat 
harsh  and  disagreeable  quality.  Then,  too, 
high  lifting  interferes  with  smoothness  and 
velocity.  For  myself  I  advocate  keeping  the 
fingers  close  to  the  keyboard,  and  pressing  the 
keys,  which  gives  the  tone  a  warmer  and  more 
elastic  quality." 

"A  point  in  hand  position  I  should  like  to 
ask  you  about.  Some  teachers  advise  placing 
the  finger-tips  close  to  the  edge  of  the  keys, 
forming  a  straight  line  with  them;  it  seems  to 
me  such  a  position  is  forced  and  unnatural." 

Mr.  Hambourg  smiled  assent. 

"I  do  not  advocate  anything  forced  and  un- 
natural," he  answered.  "So  many  people 
think  that  a  beautiful  touch  is  'born,  not  made,' 
but  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  One  can  ac- 
quire, I  am  sure,  a  fine  piano  touch  with  the 
proper  study.  The  principal  requirement  is, 
first  of  all,  a  loose  wrist.  This  point  seems 
simple  enough,  but  it  is  a  point  not  sufficiently 
considered  nor  understood.  No  matter  how 
much  the  player  may  feel  the  meaning  of  the 
music,  he  cannot  express  this  meaning  with 


Mark   Hambourg  81 

stiff  wrists  and  arms.  Some  people  have  a 
natural  flexibility,  and  to  such  the  securing  of 
a  musical  tone  presents  far  less  difficulty;  but 
with  time,  patience,  and  thought,  I  fully  be- 
lieve all  can  arrive  at  this  goal. 

AMOUNT   OF   PRACTISE 

"In  regard  to  practise  I  do  not  think  it  wise 
for  the  aspiring  pianist  to  spend  such  a  great 
amount  of  time  at  the  piano.  Four  hours  of 
concentrated  work  daily  seems  to  me  sufficient. 
Of  course  it  is  the  quality  of  practise  that 
counts.  The  old  saying,  'Practise  makes  per- 
fect,' does  not  mean  constant  repetition  merely, 
but  constant  thinking  and  listening.  I  advise 
students  to  stop  after  playing  a  passage  sev- 
eral times,  and  think  over  what  the  notes  mean. 
This  pause  will  rest  ears  and  hands;  in  a  few 
moments  work  can  be  resumed  with  fresh  vigor. 

"I  have  been  so  frequently  asked  to  write 
on  the  subject  of  technic  that  I  have  done  so 
in  a  few  articles  which  have  been  printed  in  a 
small  booklet.  From  these  you  may  see  what 
my  ideas  are  on  these  points.  I  do  very  little 
teaching  myself — just  a  few  talented  pupils; 
they  must  be  something  out  of  the  ordinary. 
You  see,  I  do  not  live  in  London  continuously ; 
I  am  here  only  about  four  months  of  the  year ; 


82  Piano   Mastery 

the  rest  of  the  time  is  spent  traveling  all  over 
the  world.  Only  that  small  part  of  the  year 
when  I  am  stationary  can  I  do  any  solid  work. 
Here  it  is  generally  quiet  enough :  the  Zoologi- 
cal Garden  is  not  far  away,  however,  and  some- 
times I  have  the  roaring  of  the  lions  as  an  ac- 
companiment to  my  piano. 

"I  am  always  increasing  my  repertoire, 
though  I  find  the  public  does  not  care  for  new 
things ;  it  prefers  the  old.  It  may  listen  to  the 
new  if  forced  to,  but  it  will  not  attend  a  recital 
unless  various  familiar  things  are  on  the  pro- 
gram. 

"I  have  made  several  tours  in  America. 
The  rush  of  travel  from  place  to  place  over 
there,  is  fatiguing,  but  I  feel  that  your  people 
are  very  appreciative.  You  demand  the  best, 
and  concert  giving  in  America  is  so  costly  that 
a  manager  can  afford  to  exploit  only  the  high- 
est artists.  Here  in  London,  where  the  ex- 
pense is  only  about  two  hundred  dollars,  say, 
to  get  up  a  recital,  almost  any  one  can  scrape 
together  that  sum  and  bring  himself  or  herself 
before  the  public.  In  America  the  outlay  is 
four  or  five  times  greater.  No  wonder  that 
only  a  very  good  artist  can  take  the  risk." 

On  leaving,  Mr.  Hambourg  took  us  to  an- 
other room,  where  he  showed  us  with  much  sat- 


Mark    Hambourg  83 

isfaction,  a  very  valuable  painting  of  the  old 
Italian  school,  by  Ghirlandajo,  of  which  he  is 
very  fond. 


XII 

TOBIAS  MATTHAY 

WATCHING  THE  ARTIST  TEACHER  AT 
WORK 

ONE  of  the  first  things  accompiished  after 
my  arrival  in  London  was  to  seek  out  Tobias 
Matthay,  the  composer  and  teacher,  for  an 
echo  of  his  fame  had  reached  me  across  the 
water. 

Matthay  has  done  much  to  make  the  princi- 
ples of  piano  technic  so  clear  and  simple  that 
even  a  child  can  understand  them.  If  he  has 
stated  facts  in  a  way  which  seems  to  some  revo- 
lutionary it  is  because  these  facts  are  seldom 
understood  by  the  rank  and  file  of  piano  teach- 
ers. The  work  he  has  done  has  compelled  at- 
tention and  admiration;  his  ideas  are  now 
accepted  as  undeniable  truths  by  those  who  at 
first  repudiated  them.  The  writings  of  Mr. 
Matthay  will  doubtless  be  better  known  in 
America  a  little  later  on  than  they  are  at  pres- 
ent. They  consist  in  part  of  an  exhaustive 

work  on  The  Act  of  Touch  in  all  its  Diver- 
si 


Tobias   Matthay  85 

sity;  First  Principles  of  Piano  Playing;  Re- 
laxation Studies;  The  Child's  First  Steps  in 
Piano  Playing;  The  Principles  of  Fingering 
and  Laws  of  Pedaling;  Forearm  Rotation 
Principle;  and,  in  press,  The  Principles  of 
Teaching  Interpretation.  These  very  titles 
are  inspiring  and  suggestive,  and  show  Mat- 
thay  to  be  a  deep  thinker  along  educational 
lines. 

Matthay's  activities  are  enormous.  He  is 
professor  of  advanced  piano  playing  at  the 
Royal  Academy  of  Music;  also  founder  and 
head  of  his  own  school  of  piano  playing.  So 
occupied  early  and  late  is  he,  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  get  a  word  with  him.  I  was 
fortunate  enough,  however,  to  obtain  an  hour's 
audience,  and  also  permission  to  attend  various 
private  classes  at  the  Royal  Academy,  and  hear 
a  number  of  pupils  in  recital. 

In  appearance  Matthay  is  a  striking  person- 
ality. His  head  and  features  recall  pictures 
of  Robert  Louis  Stevenson.  His  tall,  mus- 
cular form  has  the  stoop  of  the  scholar;  and 
little  wonder  when  one  remembers  he  must  sit 
in  his  chair  at  work  day  in  and  day  out.  His 
somewhat  brusk  manner  melts  into  kind  ami- 
ability when  discussing  the  topics  in  which  he 
is  vitally  interested.  In  his  intercourse  with 


86  Piano   Mastery 

students  he  is  ever  kind,  sympathetic  and  en- 
couraging. They,  on  their  part,  treat  him 
with  profound  respect. 

Matthay  believes,  and  rightly,  that  the  be- 
ginning pupil  should  learn  essentials  of  note 
values,  rhythm,  time,  ear-training  and  so  on, 
before  attempting  to  play  anything  at  the 
piano.  When  first  taken  to  the  instrument, 
its  mechanism  is  carefully  explained  to  the 
learner,  and  what  he  must  do  to  make  a  really 
musical  tone.  He  says  (Child's  First  Steps) : 
"Before  you  take  the  very  first  step  in  tone 
production,  be  sure  to  understand  that  you 
must  never  touch  the  piano  without  trying  to 
make  music.  It  is  only  too  easy  to  sound 
notes  without  making  music  at  all.  To  make 
music  we  must  make  all  the  sounds  mean  some- 
thing, just  as  it  is  no  use  to  pretend  to  speak 
unless  the  sounds  we  make  with  our  lips  mean 
something,  that  is  unless  they  form  reasoned 
phrases  and  sentences." 

Here  nothing  is  left  vague.  Matthay  shows 
clearly  how  all  musical  Form  and  Shape  imply 
Movement  and  Progression :  the  movement  of 
a  phrase  toward  its  cadence;  the  movement  of 
a  group  of  notes  toward  a  beat  or  pulse  ahead, 
or  the  movement  of  a  whole  piece  toward  its 
climax,  etc.  This  original  view  of  his  regard- 


Tobias   Matthay  87 

ing  form,  which  he  has  advocated  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  is  now  being  accepted  generally 
by  the  more  up-to-date  of  the  English  theo- 
rists and  teachers. 

In  regard  to  key  mechanism  and  what  must 
be  done  to  produce  all  varieties  of  touch  and 
tone,  Matthay  has  made  exhaustive  studies. 
He  says  (First  Principles  of  Piano  Playing)  : 
"The  two  chief  rules  of  technic,  as  regards  the 
key,  are,  therefore:  Always  feel  how  much 
the  key  resists  you:  feel  how  much  the  key 
wants  for  every  note.  Second,  Always  listen 
for  the  moment  each  sound  begins,  so  that  you 
may  learn  to  direct  your  effort  to  the  sound 
only,  and  not  to  the  key  bed.  You  must  never 
hit  a  key  down,  nor  hit  at  it.  The  finger-tip 
may  fall  on  the  key,  and  in  gently  reaching  the 
key  you  may  follow  up  such  fall  by  acting 
against  the  key.  This  action  against  the  key 
must  be  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  it  move 
—in  one  of  the  many  ways  which  each  give  us 
quite  a  different  kind  of  sound.  And  you 
must  always  direct  such  action  to  the  point  in 
key  descent  where  the  sound  begins." 

I  quote  also  this  little  summary  from  the 
same  work : 

"(a)  It  is  only  by  making  the  hammer-end 
of  the  key  move  that  you  can  make  a  sound. 


88  Piano   Mastery 

(b)  The  swifter  the  movement  the  louder  the 
sound,  (c)  The  more  gradual  this  swiftness 
is  obtained  the  more  beautiful  the  quality  of 
sound,  (d)  For  brilliant  tone  you  may  hit 
the  string  by  means  of  the  key,  but  do  not,  by 
mistake,  hit  the  key  instead,  (e)  You  must 
'aim'  the  key  to  the  beginning  of  each  sound, 
because  the  hammer  falls  off  the  string  as  you 
hear  that  beginning,  and  it  is  too  late  then  to 
influence  the  sound  except  its  continuance. 

(f)  It  is  wrong  to  squeeze  the  key  beds,  be- 
cause it  prevents  tone,  impairs  musical  result, 
impedes    agility,    and   is,   besides,    fatiguing. 

(g)  You  must  feel  the  'giving  way  point'  of 
the  key,  so  that  you  may  be  able  to  tell  how 
much  force  is  required  for  each  note.     Never, 
therefore,  really  hit  the  keys." 

Mr.  Matthay  as  minutely  gives  directions  as 
to  the  muscular  problems  of  touch  and  tech- 
nique. For  instance,  he  explains  how  all  vari- 
eties of  tone,  good  and  bad,  are  caused,  all  in- 
flections of  Duration,  and  the  laws  which  gov- 
ern the  attainment  of  Agility  and  ease  of 
Technique;  and  also  explains  the  nature  of  in- 
correct muscular  actions  which  prevent  the  at- 
tainment of  all  these  things.  He  shows  where 
the  released  arm  weight  should  be  applied,  and 
again,  where  it  should  be  eliminated;  makes 


Tobias   Matthay  89 

clear  the  two  opposite  forms  of  technic  implied 
by  "flat"  and  "bent"  finger  actions,  and  he  goes 
exhaustively  into  the  little-understood  question 
of  forearm  rotary  exertions,  the  correct  appli- 
cation of  which  he  proves  to  be  necessary  for 
every  note  we  play. 

In  speaking  of  methods  in  piano  teaching, 
Mr.  Matthay  said  to  me : 

"I  can  say  I  have  no  method  of  playing,  and 
moreover  I  have  not  much  faith  in  people  who 
have.  My  teachings  merely  show  how  all 
playing,  good  or  bad,  is  accomplished.  There 
are  certain  principles,  however,  which  every 
player  should  know,  but  which,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  are  as  yet  scarcely  apprehended  even  by 
the  best  teachers.  The  great  pianists  have  ex- 
perimented till  they  have  hit  upon  effects  which 
they  can  repeat  if  all  conditions  are  favorable, 
and  they  are  in  the  mood.  As  a  rule  they  do 
not  know  the  laws  underlying  these  effects. 
You  may  ask  the  greatest  pianists,  for  exam- 
ple, how  to  play  octaves.  'Oh,  I  play  them 
thus' — illustrating.  Just  what  to  do  to  attain 
this  result  they  cannot  explain.  In  my  own 
case  I  have  done  much  experimenting,  but 
always  with  the  view  to  discovering  how  things 
are  done — the  facts  and  laws  governing  actual 
tone  production  and  interpretation.  I  made 


90  Piano   Mastery 

a  study  of  Rubinstein's  playing,  for  I  found 
he  played  a  great  deal  better  than  I  did.  So 
I  discovered  many  things  in  listening  to  him, 
which  he  perhaps  could  not  have  explained  to 
me.  These  facts  are  incontrovertible  and  I 
have  brought  many  of  my  colleagues  to  see  the 
truth  of  them.  More  than  this,  I  have  brought 
many  even  of  my  older  colleagues  who  had  a 
life-time  of  wrong  mental  habits  to  impede 
them,  to  realize  the  truth  of  my  teachings. 

"The  work  of  a  teacher  should  speak  for  it- 
self. For  my  own  part  I  never  advertise,  for 
I  can  point  to  hundreds  of  pupils — this  is  no 
exaggeration  in  the  least ! — who  are  constantly 
before  the  public,  as  concert  pianists  and  suc- 
cessful teachers. 

"If  there  is  one  thing  that  rouses  me  deeply, 
it  is  the  incompetence  of  so  many  teachers  of 
piano.  They  say  to  the  pupil:  'You  play 
badly,  you  must  play  better';  but  they  do  not 
tell  the  pupil  how  to  play  better.  They  give 
doses  of  etudes,  sonatas  and  pieces,  yet  never 
get  at  the  heart  of  the  matter  at  all.  It  is  even 
worse  than  the  fake  singing  teachers;  I  feel 
like  saying  it  is  damnable !" 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  present  at  some  of 
Mr.  Matthay's  private  lessons,  given  at  the 
Royal  Academy.  Several  young  men  were  to 


Tobias   Matthay  91 

try  for  one  of  the  medals,  and  were  playing  the 
same  piece,  one  of  the  Strauss- Tausig  Valse 
Caprices. 

Matthay  listens  to  a  complete  performance 
of  the  work  in  hand,  then  turns  back  to  the  be- 
ginning and  goes  over  it  again  for  corrections 
and  suggestions.  He  enters  into  it  with  abso- 
lute devotion,  directing  with  movements  of 
head  and  hands  as  a  conductor  might  direct  an 
orchestra;  sometimes  he  dashes  down  a  chord 
in  the  treble  to  urge  more  force ;  at  other  times 
lays  a  restraining  hand  on  the  player's  arm, 
where  the  tone  should  be  softer.  His  blue 
pencil  is  often  busy  adding  phrasing  marks. 
In  the  pauses  he  talks  over  with  the  pupil  the 
character  of  the  piece,  and  the  effects  he  thinks 
should  be  made.  In  short  his  lessons  are  most 
helpful  and  illuminating. 

I  also  had  the  opportunity  to  attend  a  pupils' 
"Practise  Concert,"  and  here  the  results  at- 
tained were  little  short  of  marvelous.  Small 
children,  both  boys  and  girls,  played  difficult 
pieces,  like  the  Grieg  Variations  for  two 
pianos,  the  Weber  Invitation  to  the  Dance,  and 
works  by  Chopin  and  Liszt,  with  accuracy  and 
fluency.  Almost  every  selection  was  played 
from  memory.  The  tone  was  always  musical 
and  often  of  much  power,  and  the  pupils 


92  Piano   Mastery 

seemed  thoroughly  to  understand  what  they 
were  doing  and  the  meaning  of  the  music. 
They  certainly  exemplified  the  professor's 
maxim : 

"Never  touch  the  piano  without  trying  to 
make  music." 

Not  long  afterward  I  received  a  copy  of 
the  new  book,  which  had  just  come  from  the 
press.  Its  comprehensive  title  is  Musical  In- 
terpretation., its  Laws  and  Principles,  and 
their  Application  in  Teaching  and  Perform- 
ing. The  material  was  first  presented  in  the 
form  of  lectures;  on  repeated  requests  it  has 
been  issued  in  book  form.  The  author  at  the 
outset  claims  no  attempt  to  treat  such  a  com- 
plex problem  exhaustively;  he  has,  however, 
selected  the  following  seven  points  for  elucida- 
tion: 

1.  The    difference    between    Practise    and 
Strumming. 

2.  The   difference   between   Teaching   and 
Cramming. 

3.  How  one's  mind  can  be  brought  to  bear 
on  one's  work. 

4.  Correct  ideas  of  Time  and  Shape. 

5.  Elements  of  Rubato  and  its  application. 


Tobias   Matthay  93 

6.  Elements  of  Duration  and  Pedaling  and 
their  application. 

7.  Some  details  as  to  the  application  of  the 
Element  of  Tone-variety. 

Such  themes  must  cause  the  thoughtful 
reader  to  pause  and  think.  They  are  treated 
with  illuminating  originality.  The  great  aim 
of  the  teacher  must  ever  be  to  awaken  thought 
along  correct  lines ;  the  pupil  must  be  assisted 
to  concentrate  his  thought  on  what  he  is  doing : 
to  constantly  think  and  listen.  Teaching  does 
not  consist  merely  in  pointing  out  faults;  the 
teacher  must  make  clear  the  cause  of  each  fault 
and  the  way  to  correct  it.  That  section  of  the 
book  devoted  to  the  Element  of  Rubato,  is 
illustrated  with  many  examples  from  well- 
known  compositions,  by  which  the  principle  is 
explained.  He  shows  how  frequently  this 
principle  is  misunderstood  by  the  inexperi- 
enced, who  seem  to  think  that  rubato  means 
breaking  the  time;  whereas  true  rubato  is  the 
bending  of  the  time,  but  not  breaking  it.  If 
we  give  extra  time  to  certain  notes,  we  must 
take  some  time  from  other  notes,  in  order  to 
even  things  up. 

The  subject  of  Pedaling  is  aptly  explained 
by  means  of  numerous  illustrations.  The 


94  Piano   Mastery 

author  deplores  the  misuse  of  the  damper 
pedal,  which  can  be  made  to  ruin  all  the  care 
and  effort  bestowed  on  phrasing  and  tonal  ef- 
fects by  the  fingers.  The  fault  can,  in  most 
cases,  be  traced  to  inattention  to  the  sounds 
coming  from  the  piano. 

There  are  quotable  paragraphs  on  every 
page,  which  in  their  sincerity  and  earnestness, 
their  originality  of  expression,  stamp  them- 
selves on  the  reader's  imagination.  Every 
teacher  who  is  serious  in  his  work  and  has  the 
best  interests  of  his  pupils  at  heart,  should  read 
and  ponder  these  pages. 


XIII 

HAROLD  BAUER 

THE  QUESTION  OF  PIANO  TONE 

BURIED  deep  in  the  heart  of  old  Paris,  in  one 
of  the  narrow,  busy  thoroughfares  of  the  city, 
stands  the  ancient  house  in  which  the  master 
pianist,  Harold  Bauer,  has  made  a  home. 

One  who  is  unfamiliar  with  Paris  would  never 
imagine  that  behind  those  rows  of  uninviting 
buildings  lining  the  noisy,  commercial  street, 
there  lived  people  of  refined  and  artistic  tastes. 
All  the  entrances  to  the  buildings  look  very 
much  alike — they  seem  to  be  mere  slits  in  the 
walls.  I  stopped  before  one  of  the  openings, 
entered  and  crossed  a  paved  courtyard,  climbed 
a  winding  stone  stairway,  rang  at  a  plain 
wooden  doorway,  and  was  ushered  into  the 
artist's  abode.  Once  within,  I  hardly  dared 
to  speak,  lest  what  I  saw  might  vanish  away, 
as  with  the  wave  of  a  fairy's  wand.  Was  I 
not  a  moment  before  down  in  that  dusty, 
squalid  street,  and  here  I  am  now  in  a  beautiful 

95 


96  Piano   Mastery 

room  whose  appointments  are  all  of  quiet  ele- 
gance— costly  but  in  exquisite  taste,  and  where 
absolute  peace  and  quiet  reign.  The  wide  win- 
dows open  upon  a  lovely  green  garden,  which 
adds  the  final  touch  of  restful  repose  to  the 
whole  picture. 

Mr.  Bauer  was  giving  a  lesson  in  the  music 
salon  beyond,  from  which  issued,  now  and 
again,  echoes  of  well-beloved  themes  from  a 
Chopin  sonata.  When  the  lesson  was  over  he 
came  out  to  me. 

"Yes,  this  is  one  of  the  old  houses,  of  the  sort 
that  are  fast  passing  away  in  Paris,"  he  said, 
answering  my  remark;  "there  are  compara- 
tively few  of  them  left.  This  building  is 
doubtless  at  least  three  hundred  years  old.  In 
this  quarter  of  the  city — in  the  rue  de  Bac,  for 
instance — you  may  find  old,  forbidding  looking 
buildings,  that  within  are  magnificent — perfect 
palaces;  at  the  back  of  them,  perhaps,  will  be 
a  splendid  garden;  but  the  whole  thing  is  so 
hidden  away  that  even  the  very  existence  of 
such  grandeur  and  beauty  would  never  be  sus- 
pected from  without." 

He  then  led  the  way  to  the  music-room, 
where  we  had  an  hour's  talk. 

"I  was  thinking  as  I  drove  down  here,"  I 
began,  "what  the  trend  of  our  talk  might  be, 


Harold   Bauer  97 

for  you  have  already  spoken  on  so  many  sub- 
jects for  publication.  It  occurred  to  me  to 
ask  how  you  yourself  secure  a  beautiful  tone 
on  the  piano,  and  how  you  teach  others  to  make 
it?" 

Mr.  Bauer  thought  an  instant. 

"I  am  not  sure  that  I  do  make  it ;  in  fact  I 
do  not  believe  in  a  single  beautiful  tone  on  the 
piano.  Tone  on  the  piano  can  only  be  beau- 
tiful in  the  right  place — that  is,  in  relation  to 
other  tones.  You  or  I,  or  the  man  in  the 
street,  who  knows  nothing  about  music,  may 
each  touch  a  piano  key,  and  that  key  will  sound 
the  same,  whoever  moves  it,  from  the  nature  of 
the  instrument.  A  beautiful  tone  may  result 
when  two  or  more  notes  are  played  succes- 
sively, through  their  difference  of  intensity, 
which  gives  variety.  A  straight,  even  tone  is 
monotonous — a  dead  tone.  Variety  is  life. 
We  see  this  fact  exemplified  even  in  the  speak- 
ing voice;  if  one  speaks  or  reads  in  an  even 
tone  it  is  deadly  monotonous. 

VARIETY   OF  TONE 

"Now  the  singer  or  the  violinist  can  make  a 
single  tone  on  his  instrument  beautiful  through 
variety;  for  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  make 
even  one  tone  which  does  not  have  shades  of 


98  Piano   Mastery 

variation  in  it,  however  slight  they  may  be, 
which  render  it  expressive.  But  you  cannot 
do  this  on  the  piano :  you  cannot  color  a  single 
tone;  but  you  can  do  this  with  a  succession  of 
tones,  through  their  difference,  through  their 
relation  to  each  other.  On  the  other  hand  you 
may  say  any  tone  is  beautiful  if  in  the  right 
place,  no  matter  how  harsh  it  may  be.  The 
singer's  voice  may  break  from  emotion,  or 
simulated  emotion,  in  an  impassioned  phrase. 
The  exact  note  on  which  it  breaks  may  not  be 
a  beautiful  one,  it  may  even  be  very  discordant, 
but  we  do  not  think  of  that,  for  we  are  moved 
by  the  meaning  back  of  the  tones.  So  on  the 
piano  there  may  be  one  note  in  a  phrase  which, 
if  heard  alone,  would  sound  harsh  and  unpleas- 
ant, but  in  its  relation  to  other  tones  it  sounds 
beautiful,  for  it  gives  the  right  meaning  and 
effect.  Thus  it  is  the  relation  of  tones  which 
results  in  a  'beautiful  tone'  on  the  piano. 

"The  frequent  trouble  is  that  piano  teachers 
and  players  generally  do  not  understand  their 
instrument.  A  singer  understands  his,  a  vio- 
linist, flutist  or  drummer  knows  his,  but  not 
a  pianist.  As  he  only  has  keys  to  put  down 
and  they  are  right  under  his  hand,  he  does  not 
bother  himself  further.  To  obviate  this  dif- 
ficulty, for  those  who  come  to  me,  I  have  had 


Harold   Bauer  99 

this  complete  model  of  piano-key  mechanism 
made.  You  see  I  can  touch  the  key  in  a  vari- 
ety of  ways,  and  the  results  will  be  different 
each  time.  It  is  necessary  for  the  pianist  to 
look  into  his  instrument,  learn  its  construc- 
tion, and  know  what  happens  inside  when  he 
touches  a  key. 

"As  you  say,  there  are  a  great  many  methods 
of  teaching  the  piano,  but  to  my  mind  they  are 
apt  to  be  long,  laborious,  and  do  not  reach  the 
vital  points.  The  pianist  may  arrive  at  these 
after  long  years  of  study  and  experimenting, 
but  much  of  his  time  will  be  wasted  in  useless 
labor. 

"In  my  own  case,  I  was  forced  by  necessity 
to  make  headway  quickly.  I  came  to  Paris 
years  ago  as  a  violinist,  but  there  seemed  no 
opening  for  me  then  in  that  direction.  There 
was  opportunity,  however,  for  ensemble  work 
with  a  good  violinist  and  'cellist.  So  I  set  to 
work  to  acquire  facility  on  the  piano  as  quickly 
as  possible.  I  consulted  all  the  pianists  I 
knew — and  I  knew  quite  a  number — as  to 
what  to  do.  They  told  me  I  must  spend  many 
months  on  technic  alone  before  I  could  hope  to 
play  respectably,  but  I  told  them  I  had  no  time 
for  that.  So  I  went  to  work  to  study  out  the 
effects  I  needed.  It  didn't  matter  to  me  how 


TOO  Piano   Mastery 

my  hand  looked  on  the  keyboard;  whether  my 
fingers  were  curved,  flat,  or  stood  on  end.  I 
was  soon  able  to  get  my  effects  and  to  con- 
vince others  that  they  were  the  effects  I  wanted. 
Later  on,  when  I  had  more  leisure,  I  took  more 
thought  about  the  position  of  hand  and  fingers. 
But  I  am  convinced  that  much  time  is  spent 
uselessly  on  externals,  which  do  not  reach  the 
heart  of  the  matter. 

"For  instance,  players  struggle  for  years  to 
acquire  a  perfectly  even  scale.  Now  I  don't 
believe  in  that  at  all.  I  don't  believe  a  scale 
ever  should  be  even,  either  in  tone  or  in  rhythm. 
The  beginner's  untrained  efforts  at  a  scale 
sound  like  this" — the  speaker  illustrated  at  the 
piano  with  a  scale  in  which  all  the  tones  were 
blurred  and  run  into  each  other;  then  he  con- 
tinued, "After  a  year's  so-called  'correct  train- 
ing,' his  scale  sounds  like  this" — again  he  illus- 
trated, playing  a  succession  of  notes  with  one 
finger,  each  tone  standing  out  by  itself.  "To 
my  thinking  such  teaching  is  not  only  errone- 
ous, it  is  positively  poisonous — yes,  poisonous!" 

"Is  it  to  be  inferred  that  you  do  not  approve 
of  scale  practise?" 

"Oh,  I  advise  scale  playing  surely,  for  fa- 
cility in  passing  the  thumb  under  and  the  hand 
over  is  very  necessary,  J  do  not,  however,  de- 


Harold   Bauer  101 

sire  the  even,  monotonous  scale,  but  one  that  is 
full  of  variety  and  life. 

"In  regard  to  interpretation,  it  should  be 
full  of  tonal  and  rhythmic  modifications. 
Briefly  it  may  be  said  that  expression  may  be 
exemplified  in  four  ways:  loud,  soft,  fast,  and 
slow.  But  within  these  crude  divisions  what 
infinite  shades  and  gradations  may  be  made! 
Then  the  personal  equation  also  comes  in. 
Variety  and  differentiation  are  of  supreme  im- 
portance— they  are  life! 

"I  go  to  America  next  season,  and  after  that 
to  Australia;  this  will  keep  me  away  from  my 
Paris  home  for  a  long  time  to  come.  I  should 
like  to  give  you  a  picture  to  illustrate  this  little 
talk.  Here  is  a  new  one  which  was  taken  right 
here  in  this  room,  as  I  sat  at  the  piano,  with 
the  strong  sunlight  pouring  in  at  the  big  win- 
dow at  my  left." 

On  a  subsequent  occasion,  Mr.  Bauer  spoke 
further  on  some  phases  of  his  art. 

"As  you  already  know  I  do  not  believe  in 
so-called  'piano  technic,'  which  must  be  prac- 
tised laboriously  outside  of  pieces.  I  do  not 
believe  in  spending  a  lot  of  time  in  such  prac- 
tise, for  I  feel  it  is  time  wasted  and  leads  no- 
where. I  do  not  believe,  for  instance,  in  the 


102  Piano   Mastery 

struggle  to  play  a  perfectly  even  scale.  A 
scale  should  never  be  'even,'  for  it  must  be  full 
of  variety  and  life.  A  perfectly  even  scale  is 
on  a  dead  level;  it  has  no  life;  it  is  machine- 
made.  The  only  sense  in  which  the  word  'even' 
may  be  applied  to  a  scale  is  for  its  rhythmic 
quality ;  but  even  in  this  sense  a  beautiful  scale 
has  slight  variations,  so  that  it  is  never  ab- 
solutely regular,  either  in  tone  or  rhythm. 

"Then  I  do  not  believe  in  taking  up  a  new 
composition  and  working  at  the  technical  side 
of  it  first.  I  study  it  in  the  first  place  from  the 
musical  side.  I  see  what  may  be  the  meaning 
of  the  music,  what  ideas  it  seeks  to  convey, 
what  was  in  the  composer's  mind  when  he  wrote 
it.  In  other  words,  I  get  a  good  general  idea 
of  the  composition  as  a  whole ;  when  I  have  this 
I  can  begin  to  work  out  the  details. 

"In  this  connection  I  was  interested  in  read- 
ing a  statement  made  by  Ruskin  in  his  Modern 
Painters.  The  statement,  which,  I  think,  has 
never  been  refuted,  is  that  while  the  great  Ital- 
ian painters,  Raphael,  Coreggio,  and  the  rest 
have  left  many  immature  and  imperfect  pic- 
tures and  studies  in  color,  their  drawings  are 
mature  and  finished,  showing  that  they  made 
many  experiments  and  studies  in  color  before 
they  thought  of  making  the  finished  black  and 


Harold   Bauer  103 

white  drawing.  It  seems  they  put  the  art 
thought  first  before  the  technical  detail.  This 
is  the  way  I  feel  and  the  way  I  work. 

AVOID   RESTRICTING   RULES 

"Because  our  ancestors  were  brought  up  to 
study  the  piano  a  certain  way,  and  we — some 
of  us — have  been  trained  along  the  same  rigid 
lines,  does  not  mean  there  are  no  better, 
broader,  less  limited  ways  of  reaching  the  goal 
we  seek.  We  do  not  want  to  limit  ourselves 
or  our  powers.  We  do  not  need  to  say :  'Now 
I  have  thought  out  the  conception  of  this  com- 
position to  my  present  satisfaction;  I  shall  al- 
ways play  it  the  same  way.'  How  can  we  feel 
thus?  It  binds  us  at  once  with  iron  shackles. 
How  can  I  play  the  piece  twice  exactly  alike? 
I  am  a  different  man  to-day  from  what  I  was 
yesterday,  and  shall  be  different  to-morrow 
from  what  I  am  to-day.  Each  day  is  a  new 
world,  a  new  life.  Don't  you  see  how  impos- 
sible it  is  to  give  two  performances  of  the 
piece  which  shall  be  identical  in  every  particu- 
lar? It  is  possible  for  a  machine  to  make  any 
number  of  repetitions  which  are  alike,  but  a 
human,  with  active  thought  and  emotion,  has 
a  broader  outlook. 

"The  question  as  to  whether  the  performer 


104  Piano   Mastery 

must  have  experienced  every  emotion  he  inter- 
prets is  as  old  as  antiquity.  You  remember  in 
the  Dialogues  of  Plato,  Socrates  was  discuss- 
ing with  another  sage  the  point  as  to  whether 
an  actor  must  have  felt  every  emotion  he  por- 
trayed in  order  to  be  a  true  artist.  The  discus- 
sion waxed  warm  on  both  sides.  Socrates' 
final  argument  was,  If  the  true  artist  must 
have  lived  through  every  experience  in  order 
to  portray  it  faithfully,  then,  if  he  had  to  act 
a  death  scene  he  would  have  to  die  first  in  order 
to  picture  it  with  adequate  fidelity!" 

r  N 

THE   QUESTION   OF   VELOCITY  j 

In  speaking  of  velocity  in  piano  playing  and 
how  it  is  to  be  acquired,  Mr.  Bauer  continued : 

"I  believe  the  quality  of  velocity  is  inherent 
—an  integral  part  of  one's  thought.  Even 
a  child,  if  he  has  this  inherent  quality,  can  play 
a  simple  figure  of  five  notes  as  fast  as  they 
need  to  be  played.  People  of  the  South — not 
on  this  side  of  the  water — but  of  Spain  and 
Italy,  are  accustomed  to  move  quickly;  they 
gesticulate  with  their  hands  and  are  full  of  life 
and  energy.  It  is  no  trouble  for  them  to  think 
with  velocity.  Two  people  will  set  out  to 
walk  to  a  given  point ;  they  may  both  walk  fast, 
according  to  their  idea  of  that  word,  but  one 


Harold   Bauer  105 

will  cover  the  ground  much  more  quickly  than 
the  other.  I  think  this  idea  of  a  time  unit  is 
again  a  limiting  idea.  There  can  be  no  fixed 
and  fast  rule  as  to  the  tempo  of  a  composition ; 
we  cannot  be  bound  by  such  rules.  The  main 
thing  is:  Do  I  understand  the  meaning  and 
spirit  of  the  composition,  and  can  I  make  these 
clear  to  others?  Can  I  so  project  this  piece 
that  the  picture  is  alive?  If  so,  the  fact  as  to 
whether  it  is  a  few  shades  slower  or  faster  does 
not  enter  into  the  question  at  all. 

OBTAINING    POWER 

"Many  players  totally  mistake  in  what 
power  consists.  They  think  they  must  exert 
great  strength  in  order  to  acquire  sufficient 
power.  Many  women  students  have  this  idea ; 
they  do  not  realize  that  power  comes  from  con- 
trast. This  is  the  secret  of  the  effect  of  power. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  we  must  not  play 
with  all  the  force  we  have  at  times;  we  even 
have  to  pound  and  bang  occasionally  to  pro- 
duce the  needed  effects.  This  only  proves 
again  that  a  tone  may  be  beautiful,  though  in 
itself  harsh,  if  this  harshness  comes  in  the  right 
time  and  place. 

"As  with  velocity  so  with  power;  there  is  no 
fixed  and  infallible  rule  in  regard  to  it,  for  that 


106  Piano    Mastery 

would  only  be  another  limitation  to  the  feel- 
ing, the  poetry,  the  emotion  of  the  executant's 
thought.  The  quality  and  degree  of  power  are 
due  to  contrast,  and  the  choice  of  the  degree 
to  be  used  lies  with  the  player's  understanding 
of  the  content  of  the  piece  and  his  ability  to 
bring  out  this  content  and  place  it  in  all  its 
perfection  and  beauty  before  the  listener. 
This  is  his  opportunity  to  bring  out  the  higher, 
the  spiritual  meaning." 


XIV 
A  VISIT  TO  RAOUL  PUGNO 

TRAINING  THE  CHILD 

"AN  audience  has  been  arranged  for  you  to- 
day, with  M.  Raoul  Pugno;  he  will  await  you 
at  four  o'clock,  in  his  Paris  studio."  Thus 
wrote  the  courteous  representative  of  Musical 
America  in  Paris. 

It  had  been  very  difficult  to  make  appoint- 
ments with  any  of  the  famous  French  musi- 
cians, owing  to  their  being  otherwise  engaged, 
or  out  of  the  city.  I  therefore  welcomed  this 
opportunity  for  meeting  at  least  one  of  the 
great  pianists  of  France. 

At  the  appointed  hour  that  afternoon,  we 
drove  through  the  busy  rue  de  Clicy,  and 
halted  at  the  number  which  had  been  indicated. 
It  proved  to  be  one  of  those  unpromising 
French  apartment  buildings,  which  present,  to 
the  passer-by,  a  stern  facade  of  flat  wall, 
broken  by  rows  of  shuttered  windows,  which 
give  no  hint  of  what  may  be  hidden  behind 
them.  In  this  case  we  did  not  find  the  man 

107 


108  Piano   Mastery 

we  sought  in  the  front  portion  of  the  building, 
but  were  directed  to  cross  a  large,  square  court. 
The  house  was  built  around  this  court,  as  was 
the  custom  in  constructing  the  older  sort  of 
dwellings. 

At  last  we  discovered  the  right  door,  which 
was  opened  by  a  neat  housekeeper. 

"M.  Pugno  is  not  here,  he  lives  in  the 
country,"  she  said,  in  answer  to  our  inquiry. 
(How  difficult  these  French  musicians  are  to 
find;  they  seem  to  be  one  and  all  "in  the 
country"!) 

"But,  madame,  we  have  an  appointment  with 
M.  Pugno ;  will  you  not  be  good  enough  to  see 
if  he  is  not  here  after  all?" 

She  left  us  standing,  but  returned  almost 
immediately  with  the  message  that  M.  Pugno 
had  only  that  moment  entered  his  studio,  to 
which  she  would  conduct  us. 

In  another  moment  we  had  crossed  the  tiny 
foyer  and  were  standing  within  the  artist's 
sanctuary.  At  first  glance  one  felt  as  though 
in  an  Oriental  chamber  of  some  Eastern  mon- 
arch. Heavy  gold  and  silver  Turkish  em- 
broideries hung  over  doors  and  windows.  The 
walls  were  covered  with  many  rare  paint- 
ings; rich  objets  d'art  were  scattered  about 
in  profusion;  an  open  door  led  out  into  a 


RAOUI.  Pro xo 


A    Visit    to   Raoul   Pugno        109 

pretty  garden,  where  flowers  bloomed,  and 
a  fountain  dripped  into  its  marble  basin. 
A  raised  dais  at  one  side  of  the  room  held 
a  divan,  over  which  were  draperies  of  Ori- 
ental stuffs.  On  this  divan,  as  on  a  throne, 
sat  the  great  pianist  we  had  come  to  see.  He 
made  a  stately  and  imposing  figure  as  he  sat 
there,  with  his  long  silvery  beard  and  his  dig- 
nified bearing.  Near  him  sat  a  pretty  young 
woman,  whom  we  soon  learned  was  Mile.  Nadia 
Boulanger,  a  composer  and  musician  of  bril- 
liant attainments. 

"I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  converse  with 
you  in  English,  as  I  speak  no  language  but 
my  own,"  began  M.  Pugno,  with  a  courteous 
wave  of  the  hand  for  us  to  be  seated. 

"You  wish  to  know  some  of  my  ideas  on 
piano  playing — or  rather  on  teaching.  I  be- 
lieve a  child  can  begin  to  study  the  piano  at 
a  very  early  age,  if  he  show  any  aptitude  for 
it;  indeed  the  sooner  he  begins  the  better,  for 
then  he  will  get  over  some  of  the  drudgery  by 
the  time  he  is  old  enough  to  understand  a  little 
about  music. 

TRAINING   THE   CHILD 

"Great  care  must  be  taken  with  the  health 
of  the  child  who  has  some  talent  for  music,  so 


110  Piano   Mastery 

that  he  shall  not  overdo  in  his  piano  study. 
After  all  a  robust  physical  condition  is  of  the 
first  importance,  for  without  it  one  can  do  little. 

"A  child  in  good  health  can  begin  as  early 
as  five  or  six  years.  He  must  be  most  judi- 
ciously trained  from  the  start.  As  the  ear  is 
of  such  prime  importance  in  music,  great  at- 
tention should  be  paid  to  tone  study — to  listen- 
ing to  and  distinguishing  the  various  sounds, 
and  to  singing  them  if  possible,  in  solfeggio. 

"At  the  outset  a  good  hand  position  must  be 
secured,  with  correct  finger  movements.  Then 
there  must  be  a  thorough  drill  in  scales,  arpeg- 
gios, chords,  and  a  variety  of  finger  exercises, 
before  any  kind  of  pieces  are  taken  up.  The 
young  student  in  early  years,  is  expected  to 
play  various  etudes,  as  well  as  the  technic 
studies  I  have  mentioned — Czerny,  Cramer, 
Clementi,  and  always  Bach.  In  my  position, 
as  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  Conservatoire, 
a  great  many  students  pass  before  me.  If  I 
personally  accept  any  pupils,  they  naturally 
must  be  talented  and  advanced,  as  I  cannot 
give  my  time  to  the  children.  Still  it  is  in- 
teresting to  see  the  child-thought  develop." 

The  conversation  turned  upon  the  charming 
studio  with  its  lovely  garden — where  absolute 
quiet  could  be  secured  in  spite  of  the  noise  and 


A    Visit    to   Raoul   Pugno        111 

bustle  of  one  of  the  busiest  quarters  of  Paris. 
The  studio  itself,  we  were  told,  had  formerly 
belonged  to  the  painter  Decamps,  and  some 
of  the  pictures  and  furnishings  were  once  his. 
A  fine  portrait  of  Pugno,  life  size,  filling  the 
whole  space  above  the  piano,  claimed  our  at- 
tention. He  kindly  rose,  as  we  admired  the 
painting,  and  sought  a  photograph  copy. 
When  it  was  found — the  last  one  he  possessed 
—he  presented  it  with  his  compliments. 

We  spoke  of  Mile.  Boulanger's  work  in  com- 
position, a  subject  which  seemed  deeply  to 
interest  M.  Pugno. 

"Yes,  she  is  writing  an  opera ;  in  fact  we  are 
writing  it  together;  the  text  is  from  a  story 
of  d'Annunzio.  I  will  jot  down  the  title  for 
you." 

Taking  a  paper  which  I  held  in  my  hand,  he 
wrote, 

"La  Ville  Morte,  4  Acts  de  d'Annundo; 
MusiquedeNadiaBoulanger  et  Raoul  Pugno" 

"You  will  certainly  have  it  performed  in 
America,  when  it  is  finished;  I  will  tell  them 
so,"  I  said. 

The  great  pianist  smiled  blandly  and  ac- 
cepted the  suggestion  with  evident  satisfaction. 

"Yes,  we  will  come  to  America  and  see  the 


112  Piano   Mastery 

work  performed,  when  it  is  completed,"  he 
said. 

With  many  expressions  of  appreciation  we 
took  our  leave  of  the  Oriental  studio  and  its 
distinguished  occupants;  and,  as  we  regained 
the  busy,  noisy  rue  de  Clicy,  we  said  to  our- 
selves that  we  had  just  lived  through  one  of 
the  most  unique  experiences  of  our  stay  in 
Paris. 

(The  above  is  the  last  interview  ever  taken 
from  this  great  French  artist,  who  passed 
away  a  few  months  later.) 

The  following  items  concerning  M.  Pugno's 
manner  of  teaching  and  personal  traits,  were 
given  me  by  Mme.  Germaine  Schnitzer,  the 
accomplished  French  pianist  and  the  master's 
most  gifted  pupil. 

"Pugno  had  played  the  piano  almost  from 
infancy,  and  in  early  youth  had  taken  several 
piano  prizes.  Later,  however,  he  gave  much 
more  of  his  time  to  the  organ,  to  the  seem- 
ing neglect  of  the  former  instrument.  How 
his  serious  attention  was  reverted  to  the  piano 
happened  in  this  wise.  It  was  announced  that 
Edward  Grieg,  the  noted  Norwegian,  was 
coming  to  Paris.  Pugno  was  one  day  look- 
ing over  his  piano  Concerto  which  had  recently 


A    Visit    to   Raoul   Pugno       113 

appeared.  'Why  don't  you  play  the  work  for 
the  composer  when  he  comes?'  asked  a  friend. 
'I  am  no  pianist/  objected  Pugno.  'Why 
not?'  said  his  friend;  'you  know  enough  about 
the  piano,  and  there  are  still  four  weeks  in 
which  to  learn  the  Concerto.'  Pugno  took  the 
advice,  practised  up  the  work,  played  it  in  the 
concert  given  by  Grieg,  and  scored  a  success. 
He  was  then  thirty-nine  years  of  age.  This 
appearance  was  the  beginning;  other  engage- 
ments and  successes  followed,  and  thus  he  de- 
veloped into  one  of  the  great  pianists  of 
France. 

"Pugno  was  a  born  pianist;  he  had  a  natural 
gift  for  technic,  and  therefore  never  troubled 
himself  much  about  teaching  technical  exer- 
cises nor  practising  them.  If  the  work  of  a 
pupil  contained  technical  faults,  he  made  no 
remarks  nor  explanations,  but  simply  closed 
the  music  book  and  refused  to  listen  any  fur- 
ther. The  pupil,  of  course,  retire^  in  discom- 
fiture. He  was  fond  of  playing  along  with 
the  pupil  (generally  with  the  left  hand),  or 
singing  the  melodies  and  themes,  in  order  to 
give  him  ideas  of  the  meaning  and  interpreta- 
tion of  the  music.  This  gave  independence  to 
the  pupils,  though  it  often  afforded  them  much 
amusement. 


114  Piano   Mastery 

"With  advanced  students  Pugno  spoke 
much  about  music  and  what  it  could  express; 
he  translated  themes  and  passages  back  into 
the  feelings  and  emotions  which  had  originated 
them;  he  showed  how  all  emotions  find  their 
counterpart  in  tones.  'Above  all  let  kindness 
and  goodness  control  you,'  he  once  wrote;  'if 
you  are  filled  with  kindness,  your  tone  will  be 
beautiful !' 

"Pugno's  instruction  took  the  form  of  talks 
on  the  inner  meaning  of  the  composition,  and 
the  art  of  interpreting  it,  rather  than  any 
training  on  the  technical  side ;  about  the  latter 
he  concerned  himself  very  little.  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  only  talented  pupils  made 
progress  under  such  a  master;  indeed  those 
without  talent  interested  him  not  at  all.  He 
was  a  wonderful  teacher  for  those  who  had  the 
insight  to  read  between  the  lines,  and  were 
able  to  follow  and  absorb  his  artistic  enthu- 
siasms. 

"I  have  said  that  Pugno  did  not  concern 
himself  about  teaching  the  technical  side  of 
piano  playing.  Even  with  me,  his  best  pupil, 
he  rarely  touched  upon  technical  points.  I 
must  mention  a  notable  exception.  He  gave 
me  one  technical  principle,  expressed  in  a  few 
simple  exercises,  which  I  have  never  heard  of 


A    Visit    to   Raoul   Pugno       115 

from  any  one  else.  The  use  of  this  principle 
has  helped  me  amazingly  to  conquer  many 
knotty  passages.  I  have  never  given  these  ex- 
ercises to  any  one;  I  am  willing  however,  to 
jot  them  down  for  you." 

(The  following  is  a  brief  plan  of  the  exer- 
cises, as  sketched  by  Mme.  Schnitzer) 


"Pugno  wished  the  thirty-seconds  and  sixty- 
fourths  to  be  played  with  the  utmost  quick- 
ness. This  idea  is  not  alone  applicable  to  all 


116  Piano   Mastery 

scales,  but  can  be  used  with  any  difficult  pas- 
sage found  in  a  composition. 

"Pugno  took  a  keen  interest  in  my  work, 
my  progress  and  career.  A  few  sentences 
culled  here  and  there  from  the  many  letters 
of  his  which  I  have  preserved,  may  serve  to 
throw  more  light  on  the  inner  nature  of  the 
man: 

'  'I  have  endeavored  to  make  clear  to  your 
young  mind  the  thoughts  expressed  in  music, 
so  that  your  understanding  and  your  emotions 
also  might  grow;  all  this  has  created  a  link 
of  gratitude  in  you  and  an  affection  within 
me.  I  have  opened  the  windows  for  you  and 
have  given  you  light,  and  I  have  reaped  the 
satisfaction  of  my  sowing.' 

'  'Hear  all  the  music  you  can — do  not  miss 
any  of  the  pianists  either  good  or  bad;  there 
is  always  something  to  be  learned,  even  from 
a  poor  player — if  it  is  only  what  to  avoid! 
Study  great  works,  but  even  in  those  there  are 
some  figures  and  phrases  which  need  not  be 
brought  into  the  foreground,  lest  they  attain 
too  much  significance.' 

"(After  playing  with  Hans  Richter's  Or- 
chestra) :  'What  intoxication  of  sound — what 
exhilaration  and  collaboration  in  music! 
What  a  force  within  us,  which  sways  us  and 


A    Visit    to    Raoul   Pugno       117 

throbs  through  us,  developing  and  expressing 
each  sentiment  and  instinct!  What  art  can 
be  compared  to  music,  which  finds  expression 
through  this  medium,  called  an  orchestra.  I 
feel  myself  greater  amid  the  orchestra,  for  I 
have  a  giant  to  converse  with.  I  keep  pace 
with  him,  I  lead  him  where  I  will — I  calm  him 
and  I  embrace  him.  We  supplement  each 
other;  in  a  moment  of  authority  I  become  his 
master  and  subdue  him.  The  piano  alone  is 
too  small  for  me;  it  does  not  tempt  me  to 
play  it  except  under  such  conditions — with  a 
grand  orchestra!' ' 


XV 
THUEL  BURNHAM 

THE  "MELODY"    AND  "COLORATURA"  HAND 

A  PROMINENT  figure  in  the  musical  life  of 
Paris  is  Thuel  Burnham,  pianist  and  teacher. 

Mr.  Burnham  is  an  American,  who  for  a 
number  of  years  has  made  his  home  in  Paris. 
He  has  studied  with  the  greatest  masters  of 
his  instrument  on  both  sides  of  the  water. 
More  than  this  he  is  a  musical  thinker  who 
has  worked  out  things  for  himself,  amalgamat- 
ing what  he  has  found  best  in  other  methods 
with  what  he  has  discovered  in  his  own  ex- 
perience. He  has  been  able  to  simplify  the 
whole  fabric  of  technical  material,  so  there  is 
no  time  lost  in  useless  labor. 

As  a  pianist  Mr.  Burnham  takes  high  rank. 
Technical  difficulties  do  not  exist  for  him. 
He  has  come  to  the  last  turning  of  the  road; 
before  him  rise  the  heights  of  supreme  spirit- 
ual mastery.  A  touch  that  is  limpid,  clear, 
and  capable  of  many  gradations  of  tints; 
splendid  power  in  fortissimo;  delicacy,  veloc- 

118 


Thuel   Burnham  119 

ity  and  variety  are  all  his;  together  with  all 
this  he  has  a  sympathetic  insight  into  the  mood 
and  meaning  of  the  composer.  Of  late  he 
has  been  giving  several  recitals  of  a  semi- 
private  nature,  at  which  he  has  brought  out 
some  of  the  larger  works  in  his  repertoire. 
These  recitals  have  taken  place  in  his  charm- 
ing studios,  and  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be 
present  when  two  concertos  were  played,  the 
MacDowell  in  D  minor,  and  the  Grieg  in  A 
minor.  Mr.  Burnham  is  a  warm  admirer  of 
the  works  of  our  great  American  composer, 
and  has  prepared  an  entire  program  of  Mac- 
Dowell's  music,  which  included  the  Tragica 
Sonata,  Polonaise,  and  many  of  the  shorter 
pieces. 

In  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Burnham  in  re- 
gard to  methods  of  teaching,  he  gave  many 
helpful  points,  explaining  how  he  had  reduced 
technical  difficulties  to  a  minimum  through 
the  exercise  of  a  few  simple  principles. 

PRINCIPLES   OF   TOUCH 

"The  position  and  condition  of  the  hand 
varies  according  to  the  character  of  the  music, 
and  the  tone  you  wish  to  produce.  If  you 
give  out  a  melody,  you  want  a  full,  luscious 
tone,  the  weight  of  arm  on  the  key,  everything 


120  Piano   Mastery 

relaxed,  and  a  clinging,  caressing  pressure  of 
finger.  Here  then,  you  have  the  'Melody 
Hand,'  with  outstretched,  flat  fingers.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  you  want  rapid  passage  work, 
with  clear,  bright,  articulate  touch,  the  hand 
must  stand  up  in  well-arched,  normal  playing 
position,  with  fingers  well  rounded  and  good 
finger  action.  Here  you  have  the  'Technical' 
or  'Coloratura  Hand.' 

MELODY   HAND 

"The  Melody  Hand  is  weighty  and  'dead,' 
so  to  speak.  The  touch  is  made  with  flat  fin- 
gers; the  ball  of  the  finger  comes  in  contact 
with  the  key,  the  whole  arm,  hand  and  fingers 
are  relaxed — as  loose  as  possible.  You  caress 
the  keys  as  though  you  loved  them,  as  though 
they  were  a  very  part  of  you;  you  cling  to 
them  as  to  something  soft,  velvety  or  downy — 
with  pressure,  pressure,  pressure,  always." 

(This  illustration  recalled  to  the  listener's 
mind  one  of  Kitty  Cheatham's  stories,  the  one 
about  the  little  girl  caressing  a  pet  kitten. 
She  was  asked  which  she  loved  best — her 
mother  or  the  kitten.  "Of  course  I  love  her 
best,"  was  the  rather  hesitating  answer;  "but 
I  love  kitty  too — and  she  has  fur!") 

"To  acquire  the  melody  touch,  I  teach  it 


Thuel   Burnham  121 

with  the  simplest  exercises,  sometimes  with 
only  single  tones.  When  the  idea  is  appre- 
hended, the  pupil  works  it  out  in  some  lyric 
piece,  like  a  Song  without  Words,  by  Men- 
delssohn. 

"There  are  three  touches  for  melody  playing: 
First,  the  down  touch,  made  by  descending 
arm  and  hand;  second,  the  up  touch,  made  by 
elevating  the  wrist,  while  the  finger  lies  upon 
the  key;  third,  the  wiping-off  touch,  which 
draws  the  finger  off  the  key,  with  an  arm  and 
hand  movement. 

THE  TECHNICAL   HAND 

"The  technical  hand  employs  finger  touch 
and  finger  action ;  the  hand  is  held  up,  in  mili- 
tary position,  so  to  speak;  the  finger  move- 
ments are  quick,  alert  and  exact;  the  hand  is 
alive,  not  dead  and  heavy,  as  is  the  melody 
hand.  The  two  ways  of  playing  are  quite  op- 
posite in  their  fundamental  character,  but  they 
can  be  modified  and  blended  in  endless  ways. 

"For  the  technical  or  coloratura  touch,  the 
hand  is  in  arched  position,  the  five  fingers  are 
well  rounded  and  curved,  their  tips  are  on  the 
keys,  everything  is  rounded.  When  a  finger 
is  lifted,  it  naturally  assumes  a  more  rounded 
position  until  it  descends  to  the  same  spot  on 


122  Piano   Mastery 

the  key  from  which  it  was  lifted,  as  though 
there  were  five  little  imaginary  black  spots  on 
the  keys,  showing  exactly  where  the  finger-tips 
should  rest.  The  fingers  are  lifted  cleanly 
and  evenly  and  fall  on  the  keys — no  hitting 
nor  striking.  I  make  a  great  distinction  be- 
tween the  coloratura  touch  and  the  melody 
touch.  The  first  is  for  rapid,  brilliant  passage 
work,  sparkling,  glittering,  iridescent — what 
you  will — but  cold.  It  is  made,  as  I  said,  with 
arched  hand  and  raised  finger  action.  Mel- 
ody touch  expresses  warmth  and  feeling;  is 
from  the  heart.  Then  there  are  the  down  and 
up  arm  movements,  for  chords,  and,  of  course, 
scale  and  arpeggio  work,  with  coloratura 
touch.  I  generally  expect  pupils  who  come  to 
me  to  go  through  a  short  course  of  prepara- 
tory study  with  my  assistant,  Miss  Madeleine 
Prosser,  who  has  been  with  me  for  years,  and 
does  most  thorough  work  in  this  line. 

ASSIMILATION   OF   PRINCIPLES 

"Many  pupils  come  to  me  with  no  very  def- 
inite ideas  as  to  touch  and  what  they  may  ex- 
press through  it.  They  think  if  they  feel  a 
passage  sufficiently,  they  will  be  able  to  use 
the  right  touch  for  it.  Sometimes  they  may  be 
able  to  hit  upon  the  effect  they  want,  but  they 


Thuel   Burnham  123 

don't  know  quite  how  they  got  it,  nor  can  they 
repeat  it  another  time  at  will.  I  believe  the 
principles  governing  certain  touches  can  be  so 
thoroughly  learned  and  assimilated  that  when 
the  player  sees  a  certain  passage^  he  knows  at 
once  what  touch  is  required  to  express  it.  A 
great  actor  illustrates  what  I  mean — he  knows 
how  to  employ  his  features  and  body  to  ex- 
press the  thought  of  his  lines.  When  you  go 
to  the  Theatre  Fran9ais  in  Paris,  you  know 
every  member  of  the  company  is  thoroughly 
trained  in  every  phase  of  his  art.  You  are 
aware  that  each  actor  has  studied  expression 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  features  naturally 
fall  into  the  required  lines  and  curves  when- 
ever a  certain  emotion  comes  up  for  expres- 
sion. So  with  the  pianist — he  should  have  the 
various  touches  at  his  finger-tips.  The  step 
beyond  is  to  express  himself,  which  he  will  do 
easily  and  naturally,  when  he  has  such  a  prep- 
aration as  I  have  referred  to. 

MEMORIZING 

"I  am  often  questioned  on  the  subject  of 
memorizing.  Some  pupils  think  if  they  play 
the  piece  a  sufficient  number  of  times  they  will 
know  it;  then  are  troubled  because  they  can- 
not at  all  times  remember  the  notes.  Such 


124  Piano   Mastery 

players  must  know  every  note  of  the  piece 
away  from  the  piano,  and  be  able  to  recite 
them.  I  have  students  who  are  able  to  learn 
their  music  away  from  the  instrument,  and  can 
play  it  to  me  without  having  tried  it  on  the 
piano.  I  require  the  piece  so  thoroughly 
memorized  that  if  I  correct  a  measure  or 
phrase,  the  pupil  can  go  right  on  from  that 
point,  without  being  obliged  to  start  farther 
back,  or  at  the  beginning.  In  some  cases, 
however,  if  the  pupil  has  her  own  method  of 
committing  to  memory,  and  it  is  successful,  I 
have  no  desire  to  change  it. 

OCTAVE   STUDIES 

"For  octave  study,  form  the  hand  with  the 
'octave  grimace,' — that  is  with  arched  hand, 
the  unemployed  fingers  slightly  curved.  In 
staccato  touch  of  course  use  light  wrist.  Be- 
gin with  one  beat  in  sixteenths  and  finish  with 
the  'wiping  off'  touch.  Build  up  more  and 
more  beats  in  notes  of  the  same  value,  always 
ending  the  passage  with  the  same  touch,  as 
above  mentioned.  This  exercise  can  be  played 
the  full  length  of  the  keyboard,  in  all  keys,  and 
also  chromatically.  It  can  be  played  in  the 
same  fashion,  using  four-voiced  chords  instead 
of  octaves.  When  such  an  exercise  can  be 


Thuel   Burnham  125 

prolonged  for  twenty  minutes  at  a  time,  octave 
passages  in  pieces  have  no  terrors  for  the  pian- 
ist. For  the  octaves  in  Chopin's  Polonaise 
Op.  53,  he  would  merely  have  to  learn  the 
notes,  which  can  be  done  away  from  the  piano ; 
there  is  no  need  for  exhaustive  practise  of  the 
passage. 

KEEPING   UP   REPERTOIRE 

"In  order  to  keep  repertoire  in  repair,  one 
should  have  it  arranged  so  that  old  pieces  are 
gone  over  once  a  week.  Group  your  reper- 
toire into  sections  and  programs.  It  might  be 
wrell  to  begin  the  week  with  Chopin,  playing 
through  the  whole  list;  after  which  pick  out 
the  weak  places,  and  practise  those.  Tuesday, 
take  Schumann,  and  treat  him  in  the  same 
way.  Then  comes  Liszt,  Russian  music,  mod- 
ern composers,  concertos,  and  chamber  music. 
In  this  systematic  way  the  whole  repertoire  is 
kept  up. 

DETAILS   OF    PRACTISE 

"My  mornings  are  given  up  to  practise,  my 
afternoons  to  teaching.  Of  these  practise 
hours,  at  least  one  hour  is  given  to  technic, 
scales,  arpeggios,  octaves,  chords — and  Bach! 
I  believe  in  taking  one  selection  of  Bach,  say 


126  Piano   Mastery 

a  Two-voiced  Invention,  and  perfecting  it, 
playing  it  in  various  ways — transposing  it  into 
all  keys  and  polishing  it  to  the  highest  degree 
possible.  The  B  flat  Invention  is  a  useful  one 
for  this  treatment.  So  with  etudes;  instead 
of  playing  at  so  many,  is  it  not  better  to  per- 
fect a  few  and  bring  them  up  to  the  highest 
degree  of  completeness? 

"I  am  very  susceptible  to  color,  anywhere, 
in  anything — especially  in  pictures.  Music 
should  express  color.  Certain  compositions 
seem  to  embody  certain  colors.  As  you  sug- 
gest, red  is  certainly  the  motif  of  Chopin's 
great  Polonaise,  Op.  53." 

Mr.  Burnham  should  certainly  look  forward 
to  success  in  his  visit  to  his  native  land.  His 
fine  touch  and  tone,  sincere  and  musicianly 
style,  and  buoyant,  genial  personality  will 
make  friends  for  his  art  and  himself  every- 
where. 


XVI 
EDWIN  HUGHES 

SOME   ESSENTIALS  OF  PIANO  PLAYING 

WHEN  one  has  read  with  pleasure  and  profit 
the  published  ideas  of  a  musical  worker  and 
thinker,  it  is  always  an  interesting  experience 
to  meet  such  an  one  personally,  and  have  the 
opportunity  to  discuss  points  of  special  import, 
particularly  when  the  meeting  can  take  place 
in  some  ideal  spot  in  the  old  world.  Such 
was  my  thought  in  visiting  Mr.  Edwin 
Hughes,  an  American  who  has  made  a  name 
and  place  for  himself  among  the  pianists  and 
teachers  of  Europe.  After  years  of  study  in 
Vienna  with  Leschetizky,  where  he  also  acted 
as  one  of  the  Vorbereiters,  he  has  established 
himself  in  Munich,  where  he  feels  he  has  found 
a  true  home  of  music  and  art.  Here,  amid 
beautiful  and  artistic  surroundings,  he  lives 
and  works,  dividing  his  time  between  teaching 
and  concert  playing.  As  a  pianist  Mr. 
Hughes  has  met  with  gratifying  success  in  the 

most  important  cities  of  Germany,  while  as 

127 


128  Piano   Mastery 

a  teacher  he  has  been  sought  by  students  from 
almost  every  State  in  America,  from  Maine 
to  Texas,  and  also  from  Canada.  What  has 
given  him  special  satisfaction  is  that  during 
the  past  year  a  number  of  pupils  have  come  to 
him  from  the  Conservatory  here  in  Munich. 
They  have  been  greatly  pleased  with  their 
progress,  only  regretting  they  had  not  come  to 
him  before. 

As  to  whether  he  uses  the  Leschetizky 
method  in  its  entirety,  Mr.  Hughes  testified  in 
the  affirmative. 

"If  you  were  to  ask  Leschetizky  about  the 
'Leschetizky  Method,'  he  would  probably 
laugh  and  tell  you  he  has  no  method,  or  he 
would  tell  you  his  'method'  consists  of  only 
two  things — firm  fingers  and  pliable  wrist. 

"These  are  the  principles  upon  which  I  base 
the  technical  training  of  my  pupils.  I  first 
establish  an  arched  hand  position,  and  then  test 
the  firmness  of  the  fingers  and  knuckle  joints 
by  tapping  them.  At  first  the  joints,  particu- 
larly the  nail  joints,  are  very  apt  to  sink  in 
when  tapped  by  a  lead  pencil;  but  by  having 
the  pupil  continue  the  tapping  process  at 
home,  it  is  not  long  before  he  acquires  the  feel- 
ing of  conscious  firmness  in  his  fingers. 

"Along  with  this  exercise  it  is  most  impor- 


Edwin   Hughes  129 

tant  to  begin  at  once  with  wrist  exercises,  as 
otherwise,  from  the  effort  to  acquire  firmness 
of  finger,  the  wrist  may  become  stiff  and  un- 
wieldy. The  wrist  exercises  consist  in  raising 
and  lowering  this  joint,  with  the  hand  and  arm 
supported  first  on  each  finger  separately,  then 
on  two,  three,  four  and  five  fingers.  The 
wrist  should  not  be  so  limp  as  to  be  incapable 
of  resistance;  but  rather  it  should  be  like  a 
fine  steel  spring — a  'spring-wrist,'  I  call  it- 
capable  of  every  degree  of  resistance  or  non- 
resistance  the  quality  of  tone  demands. 

"High  finger  action  is  not  so  necessary  for 
beginners  as  most  piano  teachers  imagine.  It 
is  much  easier  to  teach  pupils  to  raise  their  fin- 
gers high  than  it  is  to  teach  them  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  legato  touch  at  the  piano,  which 
is  only  to  be  attained  by  playing  close  to  the 
keys,  without  raising  the  fingers.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  get  pupils  to  play  a  perfect  legato  who 
have  had  years  of  training  with  high  finger 
action,  something  which  should  be  taken  up  for 
non-legato  and  staccato  finger  work  after  the 
more  difficult  legato  touch  has  been  mastered. 

TONE   PRODUCTION 

"The  subject  of  tone  production  is  one 
which  is  much  neglected  by  piano  teachers. 


130  Piano   Mastery 

Viewed  from  this  standpoint  the  piano  is  an 
instrument  apart  from  every  other,  except  in 
some  respects  the  organ.  A  young  violinist, 
'cellist  or  flutist  has  to  study  for  some  time 
before  he  can  produce  a  tone  of  good  musical 
quality  on  his  instrument.  Think  what  the 
beginner  on  the  violin  has  to  go  through  be- 
fore he  can  make  a  respectable  middle  C;  but 
anybody,  even  a  totally  unmusical  person,  can 
play  middle  C  on  the  piano  without  the  least 
trouble.  It  is  just  this  ease  in  tone  produc- 
tion at  the  piano  which  leads  to  carelessness 
as  to  the  kind  of  tone  produced ;  and  so  piano 
teachers,  above  all  others,  complain  they  can- 
not get  their  pupils  to  listen  to  what  they  are 
playing.  Pupils  should  be  made  to  listen,  by 
means  of  a  special  course  in  tone  production, 
which  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  tech- 
nical exercises  used  at  the  very  beginning. 
Otherwise  they  imagine  they  are  making  music 
when  they  place  the  printed  page  on  the  rack, 
and  set  the  correct  keys  in  motion. 

"There  is  no  other  instrument  with  which  it 
is  so  easy  to  'bluff'  a  large  part  of  the  audience ; 
for  the  character  of  the  piano  is  such  that  the 
general  public  often  think  it  fine  music  if  the 
player  makes  a  big  noise.  Pianists  of  consider- 
able reputation  often  take  advantage  of  this 


Edwin    Hughes  131 

lack  of  discrimination  on  the  part  of  piano- 
recital  audiences,  which,  above  all  the  other  au- 
diences, seem  peculiarly  incapable  of  judging 
correctly  the  musical  value  of  a  performance. 
"Of  the  hundreds  of  piano  recitals  which 
take  place  yearly  in  the  musical  centers  of 
Europe,  only  a  comparatively  small  number 
are  of  real  musical  interest.  In  many  cases 
it  seems  as  though  the  players  were  merely 
repeating  something  learned  by  rote,  in  an  un- 
known language;  just  as  though  I  should  re- 
peat a  poem  in  Italian.  The  words  I  might 
pronounce  after  a  fashion,  but  the  meaning  of 
most  of  them  would  be  a  blank  to  me — so  how 
could  I  make  others  understand  them. 

RHYTHM   IN   PIANO   PLAYING 

"The  subject  of  rhythm  is  an  important  one, 
and  more  attention  should  be  given  it.  Les- 
chetizky  once  said  that  tones  and  rhythm  are 
the  only  things  which  can  keep  the  piano  alive 
as  a  solo  instrument.  I  find  in  pupils  who 
come  to  me  so  much  deficiency  in  these  two 
subjects,  that  I  have  organized  classes  in  ear- 
training  and  rhythm. 

"If  pupils  have  naturally  a  poor  sense  of 
rhythm,  there  is  no  remedy  equal  to  practising 
with  a  metronome,  using  this  instrument  of 


132  Piano    Mastery 

torture  daily  until  results  are  evident,  when, 
of  course,  there  must  be  a  judicious  slowing 
down  in  its  use.  The  mechanical  sense  of 
rhythm,  the  ability  to  count  three  or  four  to 
a  measure,  and  to  group  the  notes  of  a  piece 
correctly,  can  be  taught  to  any  person,  if  one 
has  the  patience;  but  for  those  delicate  rhyth- 
mic nuances  required  by  a  Chopin  mazurka 
or  a  Viennese  waltz,  a  specific  rhythmic  gift 
must  be  possessed  by  the  pupil. 

"Leschetizky  says  little  to  his  pupils  on  the 
subject  of  technic;  I  cannot  remember  his  hav- 
ing spoken  a  dozen  words  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject, during  all  the  time  I  have  known  him. 
His  interest,  of  course,  lies  wholly  in  the  mat- 
ter of  interpretation,  and  technic  comes  into 
consideration  only  as  a  means  and  never  as  an 
end. 

"Leschetizky  likes  to  have  the  player  talk 
to  him,  ask  questions,  do  anything  but  sit  still 
and  not  speak.  'How  do  I  know  you  compre- 
hend my  meaning,'  he  asks,  'that  you  under- 
stand what  I  am  talking  about,  if  you  say 
nothing?'  At  first  a  student  may  be  silent 
from  nervousness,  but  if  he  is  bright  he  will 
soon  'catch  on,'  and  see  what  is  expected  of 
him.  Leschetizky  says  sometimes :  'When  the 
Lord  made  the  ten  commandments  He  omit- 


Edwin   Hughes  133 

ted  the  eleventh,  "Thou  shalt  not  be  stupid." 
If  one  is  not  very  quick,  one  may  have  a  hard 
time  with  this  master. 

"As  a  high  school  in  technic  I  use  Joseffy's 
School  of  Advanced  Piano  Playing  with  my 
pupils.  This  work  leads  to  the  highest  pos- 
sible technical  development  at  the  keyboard, 
and  I  consider  it  the  last  word  in  piano  tech- 
nic. The  hundreds  of  exercises  have  been  de- 
vised with  most  wonderful  ingenuity,  and  the 
musicianship  of  the  author  stands  out  on 
every  page.  The  book  is  not  a  dry  series  of 
technics  but  has  vital  connection  with  all  the 
big  technical  problems  found  in  the  literature 
of  the  piano. 

"In  teaching,  I  consider  a  second  piano  an 
absolute  necessity.  There  are  so  many  things 
in  piano  playing  which  cannot  be  put  into 
words,  and  the  teacher  must  constantly  illus- 
trate. How  can  one  teach  the  interpretation 
of  a  Chopin  nocturne,  for  instance,  by  merely 
talking  about  it.  I  can  say,  'play  loud  here- 
soft  there';  but  how  far  do  such  directions  go 
toward  an  artistic  conception  of  the  piece? 
One  cannot  indicate  the  swell  of  a  melody,  the 
tonal  and  rhythmic  nuance  of  a  groupetto— 
and  a  thousand  other  things  in  any  other  way 
than  by  the  living  example.  Through  imita- 


134  Piano    Mastery 

tion  one  learns  rapidly  and  surely,  until  one 
reaches  the  point  where  the  wings  of  one's  own 
individuality  begin  to  sprout. 

ABOUT   MEMORIZING 

"On  the  subject  of  memorizing  who  can  lay 
down  rules  for  this  inexplicable  mental  proc- 
ess, which  will  hold  good  for  every  one?  For 
myself,  I  hear  the  notes  mentally,  and  know 
their  position  on  the  keyboard.  In  actual  per- 
formance much  must  be  left  to  finger  memory, 
but  one  must  actually  have  the  notes  in  his 
mind  as  well  as  in  his  fingers.  Before  a  con- 
cert I  go  over  all  my  program  mentally,  and 
find  this  an  excellent  method  of  practise  when 
traveling  from  one  city  to  another.  To  those 
who  study  with  me  I  say,  you  must  try  vari- 
ous methods  of  memorizing;  there  is  no  uni- 
versal way;  each  must  find  out  by  experiment 
which  is  most  suited  to  his  individual  case. 

"With  some  pianists  visual  memory  of  the 
printed  page  plays  the  principal  role  in  mem- 
orizing; with  others  visual  memory  of  the  notes 
on  the  keyboard ;  with  still  others  ear-memory, 
or  memory  of  the  harmonic  progressions.  I 
believe  in  making  the  pupil  familiar  with  all 
these  different  ways,  so  that  he  may  find  out 
which  one  is  most  helpful  to  him. 


Edwin    Hughes  135 

"For  pupils  with  weak  hands  and  arms  I 
recommend  simple  gymnastic  exercises  to  be 
done  morning  and  evening.  Physical  strength 
is  a  very  necessary  essential  for  a  brilliant 
technic ;  the  student  who  would  accomplish  big 
things  must  possess  it  in  order  to  succeed. 

KEEPING   TECHXIC    IN    REPAIR 

"The  only  way  to  keep  one's  technic  in  re- 
pair is  to  be  constantly  working  at  it.  Tech- 
nics is  the  mechanical  part  of  music-making; 
to  keep  it  in  good  working  order  one  must  be 
constantly  tinkering  with  it,  just  as  the  engine 
driver  tinkers  with  his  locomotive  or  the  chauf- 
feur with  his  automobile.  In  the  course  of 
his  technical  study  every  intelligent  pupil  will 
recognize  certain  exercises  which  are  particu- 
larly important  for  the  mechanical  well-being 
of  his  playing;  from  these  exercises  he  will  plan 
his  daily  schedule  of  technical  practise. 

"In  order  to  keep  a  large  repertoire  going 
at  the  same  time,  one  must  have  a  weekly  prac- 
tise plan,  which  will  allow  for  a  frequent  repe- 
tition of  the  pieces.  Those  pieces  which  have 
been  recently  added  to  one's  list  will  require 
more  frequent  repetition,  while  those  which 
have  been  played  for  a  longer  period  may  be 
left  for  an  occasional  brushing  up.  Frequent 


136  Piano   Mastery 

playing  before  others,  either  publicly  or  pri- 
vately, is  above  everything  else  to  be  recom- 
mended to  the  pianist,  as  the  greatest  incentive 
to  keeping  up  his  repertoire  and  toward  grow- 
ing in  his  art. 

AMERICAN   VERSUS  EUROPEAN    CONDITIONS 

4 'In  America  many  people  who  have  little 
talent  study  music,  intending  to  make  it  their 
profession;  whereas  in  Europe  there  is  such 
a  profusion  of  music  and  music-making  that 
only  those  of  more  than  average  gifts  think 
of  making  music  their  life  work.  In  America 
we  are  still  'in  the  making,'  from  a  musical 
standpoint,  and  although  we  have  accom- 
plished much  there  is  still  much  to  be  done.  It 
is  the  office  of  the  piano  teacher  in  America 
to  make  music  study  easy  and  interesting  to 
pupils  of  moderate  ability.  Just  these  con- 
ditions have  brought  about  very  excellent 
methods  of  piano  and  music  study  for  Ameri- 
can children,  which  have  no  counterpart  in 
Europe." 


XVII 

FERRUCCIO  BUSONI 

AN  ARTIST  AT  HOME 

As  a  man's  surroundings  and  environment 
are  often  reflections  of  his  character,  it  is  al- 
ways a  matter  of  deep  interest  to  get  in  touch 
with  the  surroundings  of  the  creative  or  execu- 
tive musician.  To  meet  him  away  from  the 
glare  of  the  footlights,  in  the  privacy  and  se- 
clusion of  the  home,  gives  one  a  far  more  in- 
timate knowledge  of  the  artist  as  a  man. 
Knowing  how  difficult  it  often  is  to  obtain  such 
an  opportunity,  I  can  be  the  more  thankful 
that  this  privilege  has  been  granted  me  many 
times,  even  with  those  artists  who  hold  them- 
selves most  aloof.  I  was  told  Busoni  was  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  approach,  and  the  only 
way  I  could  see  him  was  to  call  at  his  house 
quite  unannounced,  when  I  might  have  the 
good  fortune  to  find  him  at  home  and  willing 
to  see  me.  Not  wishing  to  take  him  by  storm 
in  this  way,  I  quietly  waited,  until  I  received 

the  following  note:  "While  I  am  not  fond  of 

137 


138  Piano   Mastery 

interviews,  if  you  will  come  to  tea  on  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  you  will  be  welcome." 

Busoni  is  located  in  a  stately  Wohnung 
overlooking  the  handsome  Victoria  Luise 
Platz,  in  the  newer  western  section  of  Berlin. 
Mme.  Busoni  met  us  as  we  arrived,  and  con- 
ducted us  to  the  master,  who  rose  from  a  cozy 
nook  in  a  corner  of  the  library  to  greet  us. 
Tea  was  soon  brought  in  and  our  little  party, 
which  included  a  couple  of  other  guests,  was 
soon  chatting  gaily  in  a  mixture  of  French, 
German  and  English. 

During  the  sprightly  chat  I  could  not  help 
glancing  from  time  to  time  around  the  great 
library  in  which  we  sat,  noting  its  artistic 
furnishings,  and  the  rows  upon  rows  of  vol- 
umes in  their  costly  bindings,  which  lined  the 
walls.  One  appreciates  what  Dr.  Johnson 
meant  when  he  said  that  whenever  he  saw 
shelves  filled  with  books  he  always  wanted  to 
get  near  enough  to  them  to  read  their  titles, 
as  the  choice  of  books  indicates  character. 

Presently  Busoni  turned  to  me:  "I  am 
composing  a  rhapsodic  on  American  Indian 
themes." 

"And  where  did  you  capture  the  themes?" 
he  was  asked. 

"From  a  very  charming  lady,  a  country- 


Fhntii  <  •iinirtulit  '"I  Tylrr 


Ferruccio   Busoni  139 

woman  of  yours,  Miss  Natalie  Curtis.  She 
has  taken  great  interest  in  the  idea  and  has 
been  most  helpful  to  me." 

"One  of  the  German  music  papers  an- 
nounced that  you  are  about  to  leave  Berlin, 
and  have  accepted  an  offer  elsewhere — was  it 
in  Spain?" 

"I  intend  leaving  Berlin  for  a  time,"  he  ad- 
mitted, "and  will  go  to  Bologna — perhaps  you 
thought  that  was  in  Spain,"  with  a  sly  side 
glance  and  a  humorous  twinkle  in  his  eyes. 
"My  offer  from  Bologna  appears  most  flatter- 
ing. I  am  appointed  head  of  the  great  conser- 
vatory, but  I  am  not  obliged  to  live  in  the  city, 
nor  even  to  give  lessons.  I  shall,  however,  go 
there  for  a  time,  and  shall  probably  teach.  I 
am  to  conduct  six  large  orchestral  concerts  dur- 
ing the  season,  but  aside  from  this  I  can  be 
absent  as  much  as  I  wish.  We  shall  probably 
close  up  our  house  here  and  go  to  Italy  in  the 
autumn.  Living  is  very  cheap  in  Bologna; 
one  can  rent  a  real  palace  for  about  $250  a 
year." 

Mme.  Busoni  now  invited  us  to  inspect  other 
parts  of  the  house.  We  passed  to  the  ad- 
joining room,  which  contains  many  rare  old 
prints  and  paintings  and  quaint  old  furniture 

-"everything  old,"  as  Mme.  Busoni  said,  with 


140  Piano   Mastery 

a  smile.  In  this  room  stands  a  harpsichord, 
with  its  double  keyboard  and  brilliant  red  case. 
It  is  not  an  antique  but  an  excellent  copy  made 
by  Chickering. 

Farther  on  is  a  veritable  musician's  den, 
with  upright  piano,  and  with  a  large  desk 
crowded  with  pictures  and  mementoes.  On 
the  walls  hang  rare  portraits  chiefly  of  Chopin 
and  Liszt.  Beyond  this  room  came  the  salon, 
with  its  two  grand  pianos  side  by  side.  This 
is  the  master's  teaching  and  recital  room,  and 
here  are  various  massive  pieces  of  richly  carved 
furniture.  Mme.  Busoni  called  our  attention 
to  the  elaborate  chandelier  in  old  silver,  of  ex- 
quisite workmanship,  which,  she  said,  had  cost 
her  a  long  search  to  find.  There  are  several 
portraits  here  of  the  composer-pianist  in  his 
youth — one  as  a  boy  of  twelve,  a  handsome 
lad — bildschon,  with  his  curls,  his  soulful  eyes 
and  his  big  white  collar. 

Busoni  soon  joined  us  in  the  salon  and  the 
conversation  was  turned  to  his  activities  in  the 
new  field. 

"When  you  have  finished  the  new  rhapsodic 
you  will  come  and  play  it  to  us  in  America— 
and  in  London  also,"  he  was  urged. 

"Ah,  London!  I  am  almost  homesick  for 
London;  it  is  beautiful  there.  I  am  fond  of 


Ferruccio    Busoni  141 

America,  too.  You  know  I  lived  there  for 
some  years;  my  son  was  born  there;  he  is  an 
American  citizen.  Yes,  I  will  return,  though 
just  when  I  do  not  yet  know,  and  then  I  will 
assuredly  play  the  rhapsodic." 


XVIII 

ADELE  AUS  DER  OHE 

ANOTHER  ARTIST  AT  HOME 

ANOTHER  opportunity  to  see  the  home  of  an 
artist  was  afforded  me  when  Frl.  Aus  der  Ohe 
invited  me  to  visit  her  in  her  Berlin  home. 
She  also  lives  in  the  newer  western  portion  of 
the  city,  where  so  many  other  artists  are  lo- 
cated. One  feels  on  entering  the  spacious 
rooms  that  this  home  has  the  true  German  at- 
mosphere. Adele  Aus  der  Ohe,  whose  per- 
sonality is  well  remembered  in  America,  on  ac- 
count of  her  various  pianistic  tours,  now  wears 
her  brown  hair  softly  drawn  down  over  her 
ears,  in  Madonna  fashion,  a  mode  which  be- 
comes her  vastly. 

"My  time  is  divided  between  playing  in  con- 
cert, composing,  and  my  own  studies,"  began 
the  artist.  "I  give  almost  no  lessons,  for  I 
have  not  time  for  them.  I  never  have  more 
than  a  couple  of  pupils  studying  with  me  at 
one  time ;  they  must  be  both  talented  and  eager. 
The  amount  of  time  I  consider  necessary  for 

142 


Adele   Aus   der   Olie  143 

practise  depends,  of  course,  on  quickness  of 
comprehension.  In  general,  I  may  say  four, 
or  at  most  five  hours  are  quite  sufficient,  if 
used  with  absolute  concentration.  The  qual- 
ity of  practise  is  the  great  essential.  If  the 
passage  under  consideration  is  not  understood, 
a  thousand  times  going  over  it  will  be  only 
vain  repetitions ;  therefore,  understand  the  con- 
struction and  meaning  of  the  passage  in  the 
beginning,  and  then  a  thousand  repetitions 
ought  to  make  it  perfect. 

"There  is  so  much  practise  which  can  be 
done  away  from  the  instrument,  by  reading 
the  notes  from  the  printed  page  and  thinking 
about  them.  Is  this  understood  in  America? 
Always  listen  to  your  playing,  to  every  note 
you  make  on  the  piano;  I  consider  this  point 
of  the  very  first  importance.  My  pupils  are 
generally  well  advanced  or  are  those  who 
intend  making  music  a  profession.  I  have, 
however,  occasionally  taken  a  beginner.  This 
point  of  listening  to  every  note,  of  training  the 
ear,  should  stand  at  the  very  foundation. 

LETTING  THE   HAND   FIND   ITSELF 

"In  regard  to  hand  position,  I  endeavor  not 
to  be  narrow  and  pedantic.  If  pupils  play 
with  good  tone  and  can  make  reasonably  good 


144  Piano   Mastery 

effects,  I  take  them  at  the  point  where  they 
are  and  try  to  bring  them  forward,  even  if  the 
hand  position  is  not  just  what  I  would  like. 
If  I  stop  everything  and  let  them  do  nothing 
but  hand  position,  they  will  be  discouraged 
and  think  they  are  beginning  all  over  again. 
This  beginning  again  is  sometimes  detrimen- 
tal. To  take  a  pupil  at  his  present  point,  and 
carry  him  along  was  also  Liszt's  idea.  He 
did  not  like  to  change  a  hand  position  to  which 
the  player  has  grown  accustomed  for  one 
which  seems  unnatural,  and  which  the  pianist 
has  to  work  a  long  time  to  acquire.  He  felt 
that  one's  time  could  be  spent  to  more  advan- 
tage. There  are  so  many  legitimate  positions, 
each  hand  is  a  separate  study,  and  is  apt  to 
take  the  position  most  natural  to  itself. 

"I  shall  play  numerous  concerts  and  recitals 
in  Europe  the  coming  season,  but  shall  not  be 
in  America.  -I  know  your  country  well  as  I 
have  made  several  tours  and  have  lived  there. 
I  left  it  the  last  time  under  sad  circumstances, 
as  my  sister,  who  always  accompanied  me,  had 
just  passed  away  after  quite  a  long  illness. 
So  you  see  I  have  not  much  zest  to  return. 

"However  I  am  fond  of  America,  and  ad- 
mire the  great  progress  you  are  making  in 


Adele   Aus   der   Ohe  145 

music  and  art.  And  you  have  the  courage  of 
your  convictions ;  you  do  not  admire  a  musical 
work  simply  because  some  one  else  says  you 
should,  or  the  critics  tell  you  to.  You  do  not 
ask  your  neighbor's  opinion  before  you  ap- 
plaud it.  If  you  do  not  like  it  you  are  not 
afraid  to  say  so.  Even  when  it  is  only  rag- 
time that  pleases  you,  you  are  not  afraid 
to  own  up  to  it.  When  you  learn  what  is  bet- 
ter you  say  so.  It  is  this  honesty  which  leads 
to  progressive  results.  You  are  rapidly  be- 
coming competent  to  judge  what  is  best.  I 
have  found  the  most  appreciative  audiences  in 
America." 

Miss  Aus  der  Ohe  had  much  to  relate  of  the 
Woman's  Lyceum.  The  Department  of 
Music  was  founded  by  Aus  der  Ohe  herself. 
Not  long  ago  there  was  an  exhibition  of 
woman's  work  in  music.  Women  composers 
from  all  over  the  country  sent  examples  of 
their  work.  Our  own  Mrs.  H.  A.  A.  Beach, 
who  has  been  located  for  some  time  in  Munich, 
was  well  represented.  There  are  branches  of 
this  institution  in  other  German  cities. 

Several  paintings  of  large  size  and  striking 
originality  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  pianist's 
home.  They  all  illustrate  religious  themes 


146  Piano.  Mastery 

and  are  the  work  of  Herr  Aus  der  Ohe,  the 
pianist's  only  brother,  who  passed  away  at  the 
height  of  his  career. 

"Yes,"  said  the  composer,  "my  mother, 
brother  and  sister  have  been  taken  away,  since 
I  was  last  in  America,  and  now  I  am  quite 
alone;  but  I  have  my  art." 


XIX 

ELEANOR  SPENCER 

MORE  LIGHT  ON  LESCHETIZKY'S  IDEAS 

ELEANOR  SPENCER,  whose  first  American 
tour  is  announced  for  the  coming  season,  hap- 
pened to  be  in  Berlin  during  my  visit  there. 
I  found  her  in  her  charming  apartments  in  the 
Schonberg  section  of  the  city,  far  away  from 
the  noise  and  bustle  of  traffic.  Her  windows 
look  out  upon  a  wide  inner  court  and  garden, 
and  she  seems  to  have  secured  the  quiet,  peace- 
ful environment  so  essential  to  an  artist's  de- 
velopment. Indeed  Miss  Spencer  has  solved 
the  problems  of  how  to  keep  house,  with  all  the 
comforts  of  an  American  home,  in  a  great 
German  city. 

"I  grew  so  tired  of  living  in  pensions  that  I 
took  this  little  apartment  over  two  years  ago," 
she  said,  "and  I  like  it  so  much  better. 

"I  have  been  away  from  America  for  nine 
years,  so  the  foreign  cities  where  I  have  lived 
seem  almost  more  like  home  to  me  than  my  na- 
tive land,  to  which  I  have  only  paid  two  short 

147 


148  Piano   Mastery 

visits  during  those  nine  years.  But  I  love 
America,  and  perhaps  you  can  imagine  how 
eagerly  I  am  looking  forward  to  my  coming 
tour. 

"The  first  eight  years  of  my  life  were  spent 
in  Chicago,  and  then  my  family  moved  to  New 
York.  Here  I  studied  with  Dr.  William 
Mason.  When  I  was  about  fifteen  I  went  to 
Europe  for  further  study,  and  although  I  had 
another  master  at  first,  it  was  not  so  very  long 
before  I  went  to  Vienna,  to  Leschetizky,  for  I 
felt  the  need  of  more  thorough  preparation 
than  I  had  yet  had.  There  is  nothing  like  a 
firm  technical  foundation;  it  is  a  rock  to  build 
upon;  one  cannot  do  great  things  without  it. 
I  have  had  to  labor  hard  for  what  I  have  at- 
tained, and  am  not  ashamed  to  say  so.  I 
practise  'all  my  spare  time,'  as  one  of  my  col- 
leagues expresses  it;  though,  of  course,  if  one 
studies  with  the  necessary  concentration  one 
cannot  practise  more  than  five  hours  to  advan- 
tage. 

"I  thoroughly  believe  in  practising  technic 
outside  of  pieces;  I  have  always  done  so  and 
still  continue  to  do  it.  This  brings  the  hand 
into  condition,  and  keeps  it  up  to  the  mark,  so 
that  difficult  compositions  are  more  readily 
within  the  grasp,  and  the  technical  require- 


Eleanor   Spencer  149 

ments  in  them  are  more  easily  met.  When 
the  hand  is  in  fine  condition,  exhaustive  tech- 
nical practise  in  pieces  is  not  necessary,  and 
much  wear  and  tear  of  nerve  force  is  saved. 
In  this  technical  practise,  to  which  I  give  an 
hour  or  more  daily,  I  use  very  simple  exercises, 
but  each  one  contains  some  principle  of  touch, 
movement  or  condition.  Hand  over  thumb 
and  thumb  under  hand;  different  qualities  of 
tone ;  staccato  or  clinging  touch ;  scales,  arpeg- 
gios and  various  other  forms  are  used.  Part 
of  the  technic  study  period  is  always  given  to 
Bach. 

"I  began  my  studies  in  Vienna  with  Mme. 
Bree,  to  get  the  preparatory  foundation,  but 
before  long  combined  her  lessons  with  those  of 
the  professor,  and  later  went  to  him  entirely." 

"Just  here  I  should  like  to  mention  a  trifling 
point,  yet  it  seems  one  not  understood  in 
America  by  those  who  say  they  are  teachers 
of  the  Leschetizky  method.  These  teachers 
claim  that  the  professor  wishes  the  fingers 
placed  on  a  straight  line  at  the  edge  of  the 
keys,  and  in  some  cases  they  place  the  tip  of 
the  thumb  in  the  middle  of  its  key,  so  that  it  ex- 
tends considerably  beyond  the  tips  of  the  other 
fingers.  Is  this  the  position  taught  by  the 
Vorbereiters,  or  favored  by  Leschetizky?" 


150  Piano   Mastery 

Miss  Spencer's  laugh  rang  out  merrily. 

"This  is  the  first  I  have  ever  heard  of  the 
idea!  Such  a  position  must  seem  very 
strained  and  unnatural.  Leschetizky,  on  the 
contrary,  wishes  everything  done  in  the  most 
easy,  natural  way.  Of  course,  at  first,  when 
one  is  seeking  to  acquire  strength  and  firmness 
of  hand  and  fingers,  one  must  give  time  and 
thought  to  securing  an  arched  hand  and  steady 
first  joints  of  fingers.  Later,  when  these  con- 
ditions have  been  thoroughly  established,  the 
hand  can  take  any  position  required.  Lesche- 
tizky's  hand  often  lies  quite  flat  on  the  keys. 
He  has  a  beautiful  piano  hand;  the  first  joints 
of  the  fingers  have  so  long  been  held  firmly 
curved,  that  they  always  keep  their  position, 
no  matter  what  he  is  doing;  if  he  only  passes 
his  fingers  through  his  hair,  his  hand  is  in 
shape. 

"Leschetizky  is  indeed  a  wonderful  teacher! 
The  player,  however,  must  divine  how  to  be  re- 
ceptive, how  to  enter  into  the  master's  thought, 
or  it  may  go  hard  with  him.  If  he  does  not 
understand,  nor  grasp  the  master's  words  he 
may  suffer  terribly  during  the  ordeal  of  the 
lessons.  I  have  witnessed  such  scenes! 
Those  who  are  equal  to  the  situation  receive 
most  illuminative  instruction. 


Eleanor   Spencer  151 

"I  trust  I  do  not  give  you  the  impression  of 
being  so  devoted  to,  and  enthusiastic  in,  the 
work  I  enjoyed  with  my  venerated  master  that 
I  wish  to  exclude  other  masters  and  schools. 
I  think  narrowness  one  of  the  most  un- 
pleasant of  traits,  and  one  I  should  dread  to 
be  accused  of.  I  see  so  much  good  in  others, 
their  ways  and  ideas,  that,  to  me,  all  things 
great  and  beautiful  in  art  seem  very  closely 
related. 

MEMORIZING 

"How  do  I  memorize  a  composition?  I 
first  play  it  over  a  few  times  to  become  some- 
what familiar  with  its  form  and  shape.  Then 
I  begin  to  analyze  and  study  it,  committing  it 
by  phrases,  or  ideas,  one  or  two  measures  at  a 
time.  I  do  not  always  take  each  hand  alone, 
unless  very  intricate;  sometimes  it  is  easier  to 
learn  both  hands  together.  It  is  a  good  thing 
to  study  out  the  melodic  line,  to  build  each 
phrase,  to  work  with  it  till  you  get  it  to  suit 
you.  Then  come  the  larger  proportions,  the 
big  climaxes,  which  have  to  be  thought  out 
and  prepared  for  in  advance.  A  composition 
should  be  so  thoroughly  your  own  that  you  can 
play  it  at  any  time,  if  your  hand  is  in  condi- 
tion. Or,  if  it  has  been  laid  aside  for  a  long 


152  Piano   Mastery 

time,  a  couple  of  days  should  bring  it  back. 
"The  subject  of  forming  a  repertoire  is  one 
often  overlooked  or  not  understood.  The 
repertoire  should  be  comprehensive  and  built 
on  broad  lines.  A  pupil  intending  to  make 
music  a  profession  should  know  the  literature 
of  the  piano,  not  only  the  small  and  unimpor- 
tant works  of  the  great  composers  (as  is  too 
often  the  case) ,  but  the  big  works  as  well.  If 
one  is  well  grounded  in  the  classics  at  an  early 
age,  it  is  of  great  benefit  afterwards. 

POWER   AND   VELOCITY 

"For  gaining  power,  heavy  chords  are  very 
beneficial;  combinations  of  five  notes  that  take 
in  all  the  fingers  are  most  useful. 

"The  principle  of  velocity  is  the  doing  away 
with  all  unnecessary  movement — raising  the 
fingers  as  little  as  possible,  and  so  on.  But 
in  early  stages  of  study,  and  at  all  times  for 
slow  practise,  exactness  and  clearness,  the  fin- 
gers must  be  raised.  Leschetizky  is  a  great 
believer  in  finger  action;  he  holds  it  to  be  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  finger  development. 

"I  have  been  concertizing  for  the  last  three 
years,  and  studying  alone.  This  does  not 
mean  I  have  learned  all  the  masters  can  teach 
me,  but  only  that  I  have  come  to  a  place  where 


Eleanor   Spencer  153 

I  felt  I  had  to  go  alone,  that  I  must  work  out 
what  is  in  me.  No  master  can  teach  us  that; 
we  have  to  find  ourselves  alone. 

"I  shall  probably  play  considerably  with  or- 
chestra next  season.  There  is  a  Concerto  by 
Rimsky-Korsakow  which  is  quite  short,  only 
one  movement.  It  is  charming  and  brilliant, 
and  I  think  has  not  yet  been  played  in  Amer- 
ica. There  is  also  a  new  work  by  Staven- 
hagen  for  piano  and  orchestra,  which  is  a  nov- 
elty on  the  other  side.  I  greatly  enjoy  play- 
ing with  orchestra,  but  of  course  I  shall  play 
various  recitals  as  well." 

Miss  Spencer  has  appeared  with  the  best 
orchestras  in  England  and  on  the  continent, 
and  has  everywhere  received  commendation 
for  her  pure,  singing  tone,  plastic  touch,  and 
musical  temperament.  She  is  certain  to  have 
success  in  America,  and  to  win  hosts  of  friends 
there. 


XX 

ARTHUR  HOCHMAN 

HOW  THE  PIANIST  CAN  COLOR  TONE 
WITH  ACTION  AND  EMOTION 

"A  PIANIST,  like  a  painter,  should  have  an 
infinitude  of  colors  on  his  palette,"  remarked 
Arthur  Hochman,  the  young  Russian  pianist, 
in  a  recent  chat  about  piano  playing.  "He 
should  paint  pictures  at  the  keyboard,  just  as 
the  artist  depicts  them  upon  the  canvas.  The 
piano  is  capable  of  a  wonderful  variety  of 
tonal  shading,  and  its  keys  will  respond  most 
ideally  to  the  true  musician  who  understands 
how  to  awaken  and  bring  forth  all  this  tonal 
beauty  from  the  instrument. 

"The  modern  pianist  is  often  lacking  in  two 
important  essentials — phrasing  and  shading. 
Inability  to  grasp  the  importance  of  these  two 
points  may  be  the  cause  of  artistic  failure. 
An  artist  should  so  thoroughly  make  his  own 
the  composition  which  he  plays,  and  be  so 
deeply  imbued  with  its  spirit,  that  he  will  know 
the  phrasing  and  dynamics  which  best  express 
the  meaning  of  the  piece.  When  he  has  risen 

154 


Arthur   Hochman  155 

to  such  heights,  he  is  a  law  to  himself  in  the 
matter  of  phrasing,  no  matter  what  marks 
may  stand  upon  the  printed  page.  As  a  rule 
the  editing  of  piano  music  is  extremely  inade- 
quate, though  how  can  it  really  be  otherwise? 
How  is  it  possible,  with  a  series  of  dots,  lines, 
dashes  and  accents,  to  give  a  true  idea  of  the 
interpretation  of  a  work  of  musical  art?  It  is 
not  possible;  there  are  infinite  shadings  be- 
tween piano  and  forte — numberless  varieties 
of  touch  which  have  not  been  tabulated  by  the 
schools.  Great  editors  like  von  Biilow,  Busoni 
and  d' Albert  have  done  much  to  make  the 
classics  clearer  to  the  student;  yet  they  them- 
selves realize  there  are  a  million  gradations  of 
touch  and  tone,  which  can  never  be  expressed 
by  signs  nor  put  into  words. 

FOUR   REQUISITES   FOR   PIANISTS 

"Four  things  are  necessary  for  the  pianist 
who  would  make  an  artistic  success  in  public. 
They  are:  Variety  of  tone  color;  Individual 
and  artistic  phrasing;  True  feeling;  Personal 
magnetism.  Colors  mean  so  much  to  me; 
some  are  so  beautiful,  the  various  shades  of 
red,  for  instance ;  then  the  golden  yellows,  rich, 
warm  browns,  and  soft  liquid  blues.  We  can 
make  as  wonderful  combinations  with  them  as 


156  Piano   Mastery 

ever  the  painters  do.  ,To  me  dark  red  speaks 
of  something  tender,  heart-searching,  mysteri- 
ous." Here  Mr.  Hochman  illustrated  his 
words  at  the  piano  with  an  expressive  fragment 
full  of  deep  feeling.  "On  the  other  hand,  the 
shades  of  yellow  express  gaiety  and  bright- 
ness"; here  the  illustrations  were  all  life  and 
fire,  in  crisp,  brilliant  staccatos.  Other  colors 
were  just  as  effectively  represented. 

"What  I  have  just  indicated  at  the  key- 
board," continued  the  artist,  "gives  a  faint  idea 
of  what  can  be  done  with  tone  coloring,  and 
why  I  feel  that  pianists  who  neglect  this  side 
of  their  art,  or  do  not  see  this  side  of  it,  are 
missing  just  so  much  beauty.  I  could  name 
one  pianist,  a  great  name  in  the  world  of  music 
— a  man  with  an  absolutely  flawless  technic, 
yet  whose  playing  to  me,  is  dry  and  colorless ; 
it  gives  you  no  ideas,  nothing  you  can  carry 
away:  it  is  like  water — water.  Another,  with 
great  variety  of  tonal  beauty,  gives  me  many 
ideas — many  pictures  of  tone.  His  name  is 
Gabrilowitsch;  he  is  for  me  the  greatest  pianist. 

MAKING   CLIMAXES   PIANISSIMO 

"In  my  own  playing,  when  I  color  a  phrase, 
I  do  not  work  up  to  a  climax  and  make  that 
the  loudest  note,  as  most  pianists  do,  but 


Arthur   Hochman  157 

rather  the  soft  note  of  the  phrase;  this  applies 
to  lyric  playing.  I  will  show  you  what  I 
mean.  Here  is  a  fragment  of  two  measures, 
containing  a  soulful  melody.  I  build  up  the 
crescendo,  as  you  see,  and  at  the  highest  point, 
which  you  might  expect  to  be  the  loudest,  you 
find  instead  that  it  is  soft:  the  sharpness  has 
been  taken  out  of  it,  the  thing  you  did  not  ex- 
pect has  happened;  and  so  there  are  constant 
surprises,  tonal  surprises — tone  colors  not 
looked  for. 

"It  is  generally  thought  that  a  pianist 
should  attend  many  recitals  and  study  the  ef- 
fects made  by  other  pianists;  I,  on  the  con- 
trary, feel  I  gain  more  from  hearing  a  great 
singer.  The  human  voice  is  the  greatest  of  all 
instruments,  and  the  player  can  have  no  more 
convincing  lesson  in  tone  production  and  tone 
coloring,  than  he  can  obtain  from  listening 
to  a  great  emotional  singer.  The  pianist 
should  hear  a  great  deal  of  opera,  for  there  he 
will  learn  much  of  color,  of  effect,  light  and 
shade,  action  and  emotion. 

WE  DO   NOT   WANT   CUT-AND-DRIED 
PERFORMANCES 

"The  third  requisite  for  the  pianist,  as  I 
have  said,  is  true  feeling.  I  have  no  sympa- 


158  Piano   Mastery 

thy  with  dry,  mechanical  performance,  where 
every  effect  is  coldly  calculated  beforehand, 
and  the  player  always  strives  to  do  it  the  same 
way.  How  can  he  always  play  the  same  way 
when  he  does  not  feel  the  same?  If  he  simply 
seeks  for  uniformity  where  does  the  inspiration 
come  in? 

"The  true  artist  will  never  give  a  mechanical 
performance.  At  one  time  he  may  be  in  a 
tender,  melting  mood;  at  another  in  a  daring 
or  exalted  one.  He  must  be  free  to  play  as 
he  feels,  and  he  will  be  artist  enough  never  to 
overstep  bounds.  The  pianist  who  plajTs  with 
true  feeling  and  'heart'  can  never  play  the 
same  composition  twice  exactly  alike,  for  he 
can  never  feel  precisely  the  same  twice.  This, 
of  course,  applies  more  especially  to  public 
performance  and  playing  for  others. 

"Another  essential  is  breath  control.  Res- 
piration must  be  easy  and  natural,  no  matter 
how  much  physical  strength  is  exerted.  In 
fortissimo  and  all  difficult  passages,  the  lips 
must  be  kept  closed  and  respiration  taken 
through  the  nostrils,  as  it  always  ought  to  be. 

DISSECTION  OF  DETAILS 

"Yes,  I  do  a  great  deal  of  teaching,  but  pre- 
fer to  take  only  such  pupils  as  are  intelligent 


Arthur   Hochman  159 

and  advanced.  With  pupils  I  am  very  par- 
ticular about  hand  position  and  touch.  The 
ends  of  the  fingers  must  be  firm,  but  otherwise 
the  hand,  wrist  and  arm,  from  the  shoulder, 
are  all  relaxed.  In  teaching  a  composition,  I 
am  immensely  careful  and  particular  about 
each  note.  Everything  is  dissected  and  ana- 
lyzed. When  all  is  understood  and  mastered, 
it  is  then  ready  for  the  stage  setting,  the  ac- 
tors, the  lights,  and  the  colors!" 

"I  was  intended  for  a  pianist  from  the  first. 
Born  in  Russia,  I  afterward  came  to  Berlin, 
studying  seven  or  eight  years  with  Xaver 
Scharwenka,  then  with  d' Albert,  Stavenhagen 
and  others.  But  when  one  has  all  that  can  be 
learned  from  others,  a  man's  greatest  teacher 
is  himself.  I  have  done  a  great  deal  of  con- 
cert work  and  recital  playing  in  Europe,  and 
have  appeared  with  the  leading  orchestras  in 
the  largest  cities  of  America." 

Mr.  Hochman  has  done  considerable  work 
in  composition.  Numerous  songs  have  been 
published  and  doubtless  larger  works  may  be 
expected  later. 


XXI 
TERESA  CARRENO 

EARLY  TECHNICAL  TRAINING 

A  MUSIC  critic  remarked,  "That  ever  youth- 
ful and  fascinating  pianist,  Teresa  Carreno  is 
with  us  again." 

I  well  remember  how  fascinated  I  was,  as  a 
young  girl,  with  her  playing  the  first  time  I 
heard  it — it  was  so  full  of  fire,  enthusiasm, 
brilliancy  and  charm.  How  I  longed  and  la- 
bored to  imitate  it — to  be  able  to  play  like 
that!  I  not  only  loved  her  playing  but  her 
whole  appearance,  her  gracious  manner  as  she 
walked  across  the  stage,  her  air  of  buoyancy 
and  conscious  mastery  as  she  sat  at  the  piano; 
her  round  white  arms  and  wrists,  and — the 
red  sash  she  wore! 

During  a  recent  talk  with  Mme.  Carreno,  I 
recalled  the  above  incident,  which  amused  her, 
especially  the  memory  of  the  sash. 

"I  assure  you  that  at  heart  I  feel  no  older 
now  than  in  the  days  when  I  wore  it,"  she  said. 
The  conversation  then  turned  to  questions  of 
mastering  the  piano,  with  particular  reference 

160 


TKKKSA  CAKKKXO 


Teresa    Carreno  161 

to  the  remarkable  technic  of  the  artist  herself. 
"The  fact  that  I  began  my  studies  at  a  very 
early  age  was  a  great  advantage  to  me,"  she 
said.  "I  loved  the  sound  of  the  piano,  and 
began  to  pick  out  bits  of  tunes  when  I  was 
little  more  than  three.  At  six  and  a  half  I 
began  to  study  seriously,  so  that  when  I  was 
nine  I  was  playing  such  pieces  as  Chopin's 
Ballade  in  A  flat.  Another  fact  which  was  of 
the  utmost  advantage  to  me  was  that  I  had  an 
ideal  teacher  in  my  father.  He  saw  that  I 
loved  the  piano,  and  decided  I  must  be  prop- 
erly taught.  He  was  passionately  fond  of 
music,  and  if  he  had  not  been  a  statesman, 
laboring  for  the  good  of  his  country,  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  a  great  musician.  He 
developed  a  wonderful  system  for  teaching  the 
piano,  and  the  work  he  did  with  me  I  now  do 
with  my  pupils.  For  one  thing  he  invented 
a  series  of  stretching  and  gymnastic  exercises 
which  are  splendid;  they  did  wonders  for  me, 
and  I  use  them  constantly  in  my  teaching. 
But,  like  everything  else,  they  must  be  done  in 
the  right  way,  or  they  are  not  beneficial. 

580   TECHNICAL   EXERCISES 

"My  father  wrote  out  for  me  a  great  many 
technical  exercises;  to  be  exact,  there  were  580 


162  Piano   Mastery 

of  them!  Some  consisted  of  difficult  passages 
from  the  great  composers — perhaps  originally 
written  for  one  hand — which  he  would  arrange 
for  two  hands,  so  that  each  hand  had  the  same 
amount  of  work  to  do.  Thus  both  my  hands 
had  equal  training,  and  I  find  no  difference 
between  them.  These  580  exercises  took  just 
three  days  to  go  through.  Everything  must 
be  played  in  all  keys,  and  with  every  possible 
variety  of  touch — legato,  staccato,  half-stac- 
cato, and  so  on;  also,  with  all  kinds  of  shad- 
ing." 

(Think  of  such  a  drill  in  pure  technic,  O 
ye  teachers  and  students,  who  give  little  or  no 
time  to  such  matters  outside  of  etudes  and 
pieces!) 

"Part  of  my  training  consisted  in  being 
shown  how  to  criticize  myself.  I  learned  to 
listen,  to  be  critical,  to  judge  my  own  work; 
for  if  it  was  not  up  to  the  mark  I  must  see 
what  was  the  matter  and  correct  it  myself. 
The  earlier  this  can  be  learned  the  better.  I 
attribute  much  of  my  subsequent  success  to 
this  ability.  I  still  carry  out  this  plan,  for 
there  on  the  piano  you  will  find  all  the  notes 
for  my  coming  recitals,  which  I  work  over  and 
take  with  me  everywhere.  This  method  of 
study  I  always  try  to  instil  into  my  pupils. 


Teresa    Carreno  163 

I  tell  them  any  one  can  make  a  lot  of  noise  on 
the  piano,  but  I  want  them  to  make  the  piano 
speak!  I  can  do  only  a  certain  amount  for 
them;  the  rest  they  must  do  for  themselves. 

VALUE  OF   TRANSPOSING 

"Another  item  my  zealous  teacher  insisted 
upon  was  transposing.  I  absorbed  this  idea 
almost  unconsciously,  and  hardly  know  when 
I  learned  to  transpose,  so  natural  did  it  seem 
to  me.  My  father  was  a  tactful  teacher;  he 
never  commanded,  but  would  merely  say, 
'You  can  play  this  in  the  key  of  C,  but  I  doubt 
if  you  can  play  it  in  the  key  of  D.'  This 
doubt  was  the  spur  to  fire  my  ambition  and 
pride :  I  would  show  him  I  could  play  it  in  the 
key  of  D,  or  in  any  other  key;  and  I  did! 

"With  all  the  technic  exercises,  I  had  many 
etudes  also;  a  great  deal  of  Czerny.  Each 
etude  must  also  be  transposed,  for  it  would 
never  do  to  play  an  etude  twice  in  the  same 
key  for  my  father.  So  I  may  say  that  what- 
ever I  could  perform  at  all,  I  was  able  to  play 
in  any  key. 

"For  one  year  I  did  nothing  but  technic, 
and  then  I  had  my  first  piece,  which  was  noth- 
ing less  than  the  Capriccio  of  Mendelssohn, 
Op.  22.  So  you  see  I  had  been  well  grounded ; 


164  Piano   Mastery 

indeed  I  have  been  grateful  all  my  life  for  the 
thorough  foundation  which  was  laid  for  me. 
In  these  days  we  hear  of  so  many  'short  cuts,' 
so  many  new  methods,  mechanical  and  other- 
wise, of  studying  the  piano;  but  I  fail  to  see 
that  they  arrive  at  the  goal  any  quicker,  or 
make  any  more  thorough  musicians  than  those 
who  come  by  the  royal  road  of  intelligent,  well- 
directed  hard  work." 

Asked  how  she  obtained  great  power  with 
the  least  expenditure  of  physical  strength, 
Mme.  Carreno  continued: 

"The  secret  of  power  lies  in  relaxation;  or 
I  might  say,  power  is  relaxation.  This  word, 
however,  is  apt  to  be  misunderstood.  You 
tell  pupils  to  relax,  and  if  they  do  not  under- 
stand how  and  when  they  get  nowhere.  Re- 
laxation does  not  mean  to  flop  all  over  the 
piano;  it  means,  rather,  to  loosen  just  where  it 
is  needed  and  nowhere  else.  For  the  heavy 
chords  in  the  Tschaikowsky  Concerto  my  arms 
are  absolutely  limp  from  the  shoulder;  in  fact, 
I  am  not  conscious  I  have  arms.  That  is  why 
I  can  play  for  hours  without  the  slightest 
fatigue.  It  is  really  mental  relaxation,  for 
one  has  to  think  it;  it  must  be  in  the  mind 
first  before  it  can  be  worked  out  in  arms  and 
hands,  We  have  to  think  it  and  then  act  it. 


Teresa    Carreno  165 

"This  quality  of  my  playing  must  have  im- 
pressed Breithaupt,  for,  as  you  perhaps  know, 
it  was  after  he  heard  me  play  that  he  wrote 
his  famous  book  on  'Weight  Touch,'  which  is 
dedicated  to  me.  A  second  and  revised  edi- 
tion of  this  work,  by  the  way,  is  an  improve- 
ment on  the  first.  Many  artists  and  musi- 
cians have  told  me  I  have  a  special  quality  of 
tone;  if  this  is  true  I  am  convinced  this  qual- 
ity is  the  result  of  controlled  relaxation." 

I  referred  to  the  artist's  hand  as  being  of 
exceptional  adaptability  for  the  piano. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "and  it  resembles 
closely  the  hand  of  Rubinstein.  This  brings 
to  mind  a  little  incident.  As  a  small  child, 
I  was  taken  to  London,  and  on  one  occasion 
played  in  the  presence  of  Rubinstein;  he  was 
delighted,  took  me  under  his  wing,  and  in- 
troduced me  all  about  as  his  musical  daughter. 
Years  afterward  we  came  to  New  York,  and 
located  at  the  old  Clarendon  Hotel,  which  has 
housed  so  many  men  of  note.  The  first  day 
at  lunch,  my  aunt  and  I  were  seated  at  a  table 
mostly  occupied  by  elderly  ladies,  who  stared 
at  us  curiously.  I  was  a  shy  slip  of  a  girl, 
and  hardly  ventured  to  raise  my  eyes  after 
the  first  look  around  the  room.  Beside  me 
sat  a  gentleman.  I  glanced  at  his  hand  as  it 


1GC  Piano   Mastery 

rested  on  the  table — then  I  looked  more 
closely;  how  much  it  reminded  me  of  Rubin- 
stein's hand!  My  eyes  traveled  slowly  up  to 
the  gentleman's  face — it  was  Rubinstein !  He 
was  looking  at  me;  then  he  turned  and  em- 
braced me,  before  all  those  observing  ladies!" 

We  spoke  of  Berlin,  the  home  of  the  pianist, 
and  of  its  musical  life,  mentioning  von  Biilow 
and  Klind worth.  "Both  good  friends  of 
mine,"  she  commented.  "What  a  wonderful 
work  Klindworth  has  accomplished  in  his  edi- 
tions of  Beethoven  and  Chopin!  As  Goethe 
said  of  himself,  we  can  say  of  Klindworth— 
he  has  carved  his  own  monument  in  this  work. 
We  should  revere  him  for  the  great  service 
he  has  done  the  pianistic  world. 

"I  always  love  to  play  in  America,  and  each 
time  I  come  I  discover  how  much  you  have 
grown.  The  musical  development  here  is 
wonderful.  This  country  is  very  far  from 
being  filled  with  a  mercenary  and  commercial 
spirit.  If  Europeans  think  so  it  is  because 
they  do  not  know  the  American  at  home. 
Your  progress  in  music  is  a  marvel!  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  idealism  here,  and  idealism 
is  the  very  heart  and  soul  of  music. 

"I  feel  the  artist  has  such  a  beautiful  calling 


Carreno  167 

—a  glorious  message — to  educate  a  people  to 
see  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  his  art — of 
the  ideal!" 


XXII 

WILHELM  BACHAUS 

TECHNICAL  PROBLEMS  DISCUSSED 

"How  do  I  produce  the  effects  which  I  ob- 
tain from  the  piano?" 

The  young  German  artist,  Wilhelm  Bach- 
aus,  was  comfortably  seated  in  his  spacious 
apartments  at  the  Ritz,  New  York,  when  this 
question  was  asked.  A  grand  piano  stood 
close  at  hand,  and  the  pianist  ran  his  fingers 
lightly  over  its  keys  from  time  to  time,  or 
illustrated  some  technical  point  as  he  talked. 

"In  answer  I  would  say  I  produce  them 
by  listening,  criticizing,  judging — working 
over  the  point,  until  I  get  it  as  I  want  it. 
Then  I  can  reproduce  it  at  will,  if  I  want  to 
make  just  the  same  effect;  but  sometimes  I 
want  to  change  and  try  another. 

"I  am  particular  about  the  seat  I  use  at 
the  piano,  as  I  sit  lower  than  most  amateurs, 
who  in  general  are  apt  to  sit  too  high.  My 
piano  stool  has  just  been  taken  out  for  a  few 
repairs,  or  I  could  show  you  how  low  it  is. 

168 


WII.HKI.M   HACHAT-S 


Wilhelm    Bachaus  169 

Then  I  am  old-fashioned  enough  to  still  be- 
lieve in  scales  and  arpeggios.  Some  of  the 
players  of  the  present  day  seem  to  have  no 
use  for  such  things,  but  I  find  them  of  great 
importance.  This  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  I  go  through  the  whole  set  of  keys  when 
I  practise  the  scales;  but  I  select  a  few  at  a 
time,  and  work  at  those.  I  start  with  ridicu- 
lously simple  forms — just  the  hand  over  the 
thumb,  and  the  thumb  under  the  hand — a  few 
movements  each  way,  especially  for  arpeg- 
gios. The  principle  I  have  referred  to  is  the 
difficult  point;  a  few  doses  of  this  remedy, 
however,  bring  the  hand  up  into  order  again." 

The  pianist  turned  to  the  keyboard  and 
illustrated  the  point  very  clearly. 

"As  you  see,  I  slant  the  hand  considerably 
across  the  keys,"  he  said,  "but  this  oblique  posi- 
tion is  more  comfortable,  and  the  hand  can  ac- 
commodate itself  to  the  intervals  of  the  arpeg- 
gio, or  to  the  passing  of  the  thumb  in  scales. 
Some  may  think  I  stick  out  the  elbow  too 
much,  but  I  don't  care  for  that,  if  by  this 
means  the  scale  becomes  smooth  and  even. 

OVERHAULING   ONE'S   TECHNIC 

"I  have  to  overhaul  my  technic  once  or 
twice  a  week,  to  see  that  everything  is  all 


170  Piano   Mastery 

right — and  of  course  the  scales  and  arpeggios 
come  in  for  their  share  of  criticism.  I  prac- 
tise them  in  legato,  staccato  and  in  other 
touches,  but  mostly  in  legato,  as  that  is  some- 
what more  difficult  and  more  beautiful  than 
the  others. 

"Perhaps  I  have  what  might  be  called  a 
natural  technic;  that  is  I  have  a  natural  apti- 
tude for  it,  so  that  I  could  acquire  it  easily, 
and  it  stays  with  me.  Hoffmann  has  that 
kind  of  natural  technic;  so  has  d' Albert.  Of 
course  I  have  to  practise  technic;  I  would  not 
allow  it  to  lapse;  I  love  the  piano  too  much 
to  neglect  any  part  of  the  work.  An  artist 
owes  it  to  himself  and  the  public  to  keep  him- 
self up  in  perfect  condition — for  he  must 
never  offer  the  public  anything  but  the  best. 
I  only  mean  to  say  I  do  not  have  to  work  at 
it  as  laboriously  as  some  others  have  to  do. 
However,  I  practise  technic  daily,  and  will 
add  that  I  find  I  can  do  a  great  deal  in  a  short 
time.  When  on  tour  I  try  to  give  one  hour  a 
day  to  it,  not  more." 

Speaking  of  the  action  of  fingers,  Mr. 
Bachaus  continued: 

"Why,  yes,  I  raise  my  ringers  whenever 
and  wherever  necessary — no  more.  Do  you 


Wilhelm    Bachaus  171 

know  Breithaupt?  Well,  he  does  not  approve 
of  such  technical  exercises  as  these  (illustrat- 
ing) ;  holding  down  some  fingers  and  lifting 
others,  for  technical  practise,  but  I  do.  As 
for  the  metronome,  I  approve  of  it  to  culti- 
vate the  sense  of  rhythm  in  those  who  are  lack- 
ing in  this  particular  sense.  I  sometimes  use 
it  myself,  just  to  see  the  difference  between 
the  mechanical  rhythm  and  the  musical  rhythm 
—for  they  are  not  always  the  same  by  any 
means. 

"Do  you  know  these  Technical  Exercises  of 
Brahms?  I  think  a  great  deal  of  them,  and, 
as  you  see,  carry  them  around  with  me;  they 
are  excellent. 

"You  ask  me  about  octaves.  It  is  true  they 
are  easy  for  me  now,  but  I  can  remember  the 
time  when  they  were  difficult.  The  only  al- 
ternative is  to  work  constantly  at  them.  Of 
course  they  are  more  difficult  for  small  hands; 
so  care  must  be  taken  not  to  strain  nor  over- 
tire  the  hand.  A  little  at  a  time,  in  frequent 
doses,  ought  in  six  months  to  work  wonders. 
Rowing  a  boat  is  good  to  develop  wrists  for 
octave  playing. 

"You  ask  if  I  can  tell  how  I  obtain  power. 
That  is  a  very  difficult  question.  Why  does 


172  Piano   Mastery 

one  child  learn  to  swim  almost  immediately, 
while  another  cannot  master  it  for  a  long  time? 
To  the  first  it  comes  naturally — he  has  the 
knack,  so  to  speak.  And  it  is  just  so  with  the 
quality  of  power  at  the  piano.  It  certainly  is 
not  due  to  physique,  nor  to  brute  strength, 
else  only  the  athlete  would  have  sufficient 
power.  No,  it  is  the  'knack,'  or  rather  it  is 
the  result  of  relaxation,  as  you  suggest. 

"Take  the  subject  of  velocity.  I  never 
work  for  that  special  thing  as  some  do.  I 
seldom  practise  with  great  velocity,  for  it  in- 
terferes with  clearness.  I  prefer  to  play  more 
slowly,  giving  the  greatest  attention  to  clear- 
ness and  good  tone.  By  pursuing  this  course 
I  find  that  when  I  need  velocity  I  have  it. 

"I  am  no  pedagogue  and  have  no  desire  to 
be  one.  I  have  no  time  for  teaching;  my  own 
studies  and  concert  work  fill  all  my  days.  I 
do  not  think  that  one  can  both  teach  and  play 
successfully.  If  I  were  teaching  I  should  no 
doubt  acquire  the  habit  of  analyzing  and  criti- 
cizing the  work  of  others;  of  explaining  and 
showing  just  how  a  thing  should  be  done. 
But  I  am  not  a  critic  nor  a  teacher,  so  I  do 
not  always  know  how  I  produce  effects.  I 
play  'as  the  bird  sings,'  to  quote  an  old  Ger- 
man song. 


Willielm    Bachaus  173 

MODERN    PIANO   MUSIC 

"Your  MacDowell  has  written  some  nice 
music,  some  pretty  music;  I  am  familiar  with 
his  Concerto  in  D  minor,  some  of  the  short 
pieces  and  the  Sonatas.  As  for  modern  piano 
concertos  there  are  not  many,  it  is  quite  true. 
There  is  the  Rachmaninoff,  the  MacDowell  I 
mentioned,  the  D  minor  of  Rubinstein,  and  the 
Saint- Saens  in  G  minor.  There  is  also  a  Con- 
certo by  Neitzel,  which  is  a  most  interesting 
work;  I  do  not  recall  that  it  has  been  played 
in  America.  I  have  played  it  on  the  other 
side,  and  I  may  bring  it  out  here  during  my 
present  tour.  This  Concerto  is  a  fine  work, 
into  which  the  author  has  put  his  best  thought, 
feeling  and  power." 

A   BRAHMS   CONCERTO 

As  I  listened  to  the  eloquent  reading  of  the 
Brahms  second  Concerto,  which  Mr.  Bachaus 
gave  soon  afterward  with  the  New  York  Sym- 
phony, I  was  reminded  of  a  memorable  event 
which  occurred  during  my  student  days  in 
Berlin.  It  was  a  special  concert,  at  which  the 
honored  guest  and  soloist  was  the  great 
Brahms  himself.  Von  Biilow  conducted  the 
orchestra,  and  Brahms  played  his  second  Con- 


174  Piano   Mastery 

certo.  The  Hamburg  master  was  not  a  vir- 
tuoso, in  the  present  acceptance  of  the  term: 
his  touch  on  the  piano  was  somewhat  hard  and 
dry ;  but  he  played  the  work  with  commendable 
dexterity,  and  made  an  imposing  figure  as  he 
sat  at  the  piano,  with  his  grand  head  and 
his  long  beard.  Of  course  his  performance 
aroused  immense  enthusiasm ;  there  was  no  end 
of  applause  and  cheering,  and  then  came  a 
huge  laurel  wreath.  I  mentioned  this  episode 
to  Mr.  Bachaus  a  few  days  later. 

"I  first  played  the  Brahms  Concerto  in 
Vienna  under  Hans  Richter;  he  had  counseled 
me  to  study  the  work.  The  Americans  are 
beginning  to  admire  and  appreciate  Brahms; 
he  ought  to  have  a  great  vogue  here. 

"In  studying  such  a  work,  for  piano  and 
orchestra,  I  must  not  only  know  my  own  part 
but  all  the  other  parts — what  each  instrument 
is  doing.  I  always  study  a  concerto  with  the 
orchestral  score,  so  that  I  can  see  it  all  be- 
fore me." 


XXIII 


AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  TEACHERS 

AMONG  American  teachers  Alexander  Lam- 
bert takes  high  rank.  For  over  twenty-five 
years  he  has  held  aloft  the  standard  of  sound 
musicianship  in  the  art  of  teaching  and  play- 
ing. A  quarter  of  a  century  of  thorough,  con- 
scientious effort  along  these  lines  must  have 
left  its  impress  upon  the  whole  rising  genera- 
tion of  students  and  teachers  in  this  country, 
and  made  for  the  progress  and  advancement 
of  American  art. 

It  means  much  to  have  a  native-born 
teacher  of  such  high  aims  living  and  work- 
ing among  us;  a  teacher  whom  no  flattery 
nor  love  of  gain  can  influence  nor  render 
indifferent  to  the  high  aim  ever  in  view. 
There  is  no  escaping  a  sound  and  thorough 
course  of  study  for  those  who  come  under 
Mr.  Lambert's  supervision.  Scales  must 
be,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  the  daily  bread 
of  the  player;  the  hand  must  be  put  in 

175 


176  Piano   Mastery 

good  shape,  the  finger  joints  rendered  firm, 
the  arms  and  body  supple,  before  pieces 
are  thought  of.  Technical  study  must  con- 
tinue along  the  whole  course,  hand  in  hand 
with  piece  playing;  technic  for  its  own  sake, 
outside  the  playing  of  compositions.  And 
why  not?  Is  the  technic  of  an  art  ever  quite 
finished?  Can  it  ever  be  laid  away  on  the 
shelf  and  considered  complete?  Must  it  not 
always  be  kept  in  working  order? 

''Have  you  not  seen  many  changes  in  the 
aims  of  students,  and  in  the  conditions  of  piano 
teaching  in  New  York,  during  the  years  you 
have  taught  here?"  I  asked  Mr.  Lambert,  in  the 
course  of  a  recent  conversation. 

"Some  changes,  it  is  true,  I  have  seen,"  he 
answered;  "but  I  must  also  say  that  the  con- 
ditions attending  piano  teaching  in  America 
are  peculiar.  We  have  some  excellent  teach- 
ers here,  teachers  who  can  hold  their  own 
anywhere,  and  are  capable  of  producing  fin- 
ished artists.  Yet  let  a  pupil  go  to  the  best 
teacher  in  this  country,  and  the  chances  are 
that  he  or  she  is  still  looking  forward  to  'fin- 
ishing' with  some  European  artist.  They  are 
not  satisfied  until  they  have  secured  the  for- 
eign stamp  of  approval.  While  this  is  true  of 
the  advanced  pianist,  it  is  even  more  in  evi- 


Alexander   Lambert  177 

dence  in  the  mediocre  player.  He,  too,  is 
dreaming  of  the  'superior  advantages,'  as  he 
calls  them,  of  European  study.  He  may  have 
no  foundation  to  build  upon — may  not  even  be 
able  to  play  a  scale  correctly,  but  still  thinks 
he  must  go  abroad ! 

"You  ask  if  I  think  students  can  obtain 
just  as  good  instruction  here  as  in  Europe? 
That  is  a  little  difficult  to  answer  off-hand.  I 
fully  believe  we  have  some  teachers  in  Amer- 
ica as  able  as  any  on  the  other  side;  in  some 
ways  they  are  better.  For  one  thing  they  are 
morally  better — I  repeat,  morally  better. 
For  another  they  are  more  thorough:  they 
take  more  interest  in  their  pupils  and  will  do 
more  for  them.  When  such  a  teacher  is 
found,  he  certainly  deserves  the  deep  respect 
and  gratitude  of  the  American  student.  But 
alas,  he  seldom  experiences  the  gratitude. 
After  he  has  done  everything  for  the  pupil- 
fashioned  him  into  a  well-equipped  artist,  the 
student  is  apt  to  say:  'Now  I  will  go  abroad 
for  lessons  with  this  or  that  famous  European 
master!'  What  is  the  result?  He  may  never 
amount  to  anything — may  never  be  heard  of 
afterward.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  pupils 
coming  to  me,  who  have  been  years  with  some 
of  the  greatest  foreign  masters,  yet  who  are 


178  Piano   Mastery 

full  of  faults  of  all  kinds,  faults  which  it  takes 
me  years  to  correct.  Some  of  them  come  with 
hard  touch,  with  tense  position  and  condition 
of  arms  and  body,  with  faulty  pedaling,  and 
with  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  some  of  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  piano  playing. 

POWER   WITHOUT  EFFORT 

"How  do  I  teach  them  to  acquire  power 
with  little  effort?  Relaxation  is  the  whole 
secret.  Your  arm  is  really  quite  heavy,  it 
weighs  considerable.  Act  on  this  principle 
then:  let  the  arms  fall  with  their  full  weight 
on  the  keys,  and  you  will  have  all  the  power 
you  need,  provided  the  fingers  are  rounded  and 
firm.  That  is  the  other  half  of  the  secret. 
The  finger  joints  must  be  firm,  especially  the 
third  joint.  It  stands  to  reason  there  can  be 
no  power,  no  brilliancy  when  this  joint  is  wav- 
ering and  wobbling. 

"I  teach  arched  hand  position,  and,  for 
children  and  beginners,  decided  finger  action; 
the  fingers  are  to  be  raised,  in  the  beginning, 
though  not  too  high.  Some  teachers  may  not 
teach  finger  action,  because  they  say  artists  do 
not  use  it.  But  the  artist,  if  questioned,  would 
tell  you  he  had  to  learn  finger  action  in  the 
beginning.  There  are  so  many  stages  in  piano 


Alexander   Lambert  179 

playing.  The  beginner  must  raise  his  fingers 
in  order  to  acquire  finger  development  and  a 
good,  clear  touch.  In  the  middle  stage  he  has 
secured  enough  finger  control  to  play  the  same 
passage  with  less  action,  and  still  perform  it 
with  sufficient  clearness ;  while  in  the  more  fin- 
ished stage  the  passage  may  be  played  with 
scarcely  any  perceptible  motion,  so  thoroughly 
do  the  fingers  respond  to  every  mental  require- 
ment. 

"Sometimes  pupils  come  to  me  who  do  not 
know  scales,  though  they  are  playing  difficult 
compositions.  I  insist  on  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  scales  and  arpeggios,  and  a  serious 
study  of  Bach.  I  use  almost  everything  Bach 
ever  wrote  for  the  piano;  the  Two  and  Three 
Part  Inventions,  French  and  English  Suites, 
Well-tempered  Clavichord,  and  the  organ  Pre- 
ludes and  Fugues,  arranged  by  Liszt." 


THE  SCOPE  OF  PIANO  TECHNIC 

EACH  year,  as  Mme.  Bloomfield  Zeisler 
plays  for  us,  we  feel  the  growth  of  a  deeper 
experience,  a  clearer  insight  into  human  na- 
ture, a  broader  outlook  and  grasp  on  art  and 
life.  Such  a  mentality,  ever  seeking  for 
truth  and  the  sincerest  expression  of  it,  must 
continually  progress,  until — as  now — the 
greatest  heights  are  reached.  Mme.  Zeisler  is 
no  keyboard  dreamer,  no  rhapsodist  on  Art. 
She  is  a  thoroughly  practical  musician,  able  to 
explain  as  well  as  demonstrate,  able  to  talk 
as  well  as  play.  Out  of  the  fulness  of  a  rich 
experience,  out  of  the  depth  of  deepest  sin- 
cerity and  conviction  the  artist  speaks,  as  she 
plays,  with  authority  and  enthusiasm. 

"The  first  thing  to  be  done  for  a  pupil  is  to 
see  that  the  hand  is  in  correct  position.  I  ex- 
plain that  the  wrist  should  be  about  on  a  level 
with  the  second  joint  of  the  middle  finger, 
when  the  fingers  are  properly  rounded.  The 

180 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       181 

knuckles  will  then  be  somewhat  elevated;  in 
fact  they  will  naturally  take  care  of  them- 
selves, other  points  of  the  hand  being  correct. 
Two  things  are  of  supreme  importance: 
namely,  firm  finger  joints  and  loose  wrists; 
these  must  be  insisted  on  from  the  very  be- 
ginning. I  sometimes  use  firm  wrists  in  my 
own  playing,  if  I  wish  to  make  a  certain  ef- 
fect; but  I  can  safely  affirm,  I  think,  that  no 
one  has  ever  seen  me  play  with  weak,  bend- 
ing fingers. 

WHAT   TECHNIC    INCLUDES 

"Piano  technic  includes  so  much;  every- 
thing goes  into  it — arithmetic,  grammar,  dic- 
tion, language  study,  poetry,  history,  and 
painting!  In  the  first  stages  there  are  rules 
to  be  learned,  just  as  in  any  other  study.  In 
school  we  had  to  learnr^Prales  of  grammar 
and  mathematics.  Just  such  rules  are  ap- 
plicable to  musical  performance.  I  must 
know  the  rules  of  versification  in  order  to  scan 
poetic  stanzas;  so  I  must  know  the  laws  of 
rhythm  and  meter  to  be  able  to  punctuate 
musical  phrases  and  periods.  Pupils  who 
have  long  passed  the  stage  of  division  and 
fractions  do  not  seem  able  to  determine  the 
time-values  of  the  various  notes  and  groups  of 


182  Piano   Mastery 

notes  used  in  music;  they  do  not  know  what 
must  be  done  with  triplets,  dotted  notes,  and 
so  on.  So  you  see  'just  technic'  includes  a 
multitude  of  things;  it  is  a  very  wide  subject. 

EACH   PUPIL   A   DIFFERENT   PROBLEM 

"Each  pupil  presents  a  different  problem 
as  to  physical  formation  of  hand  and  body,  in- 
telligence and  talent.  Those  who  are  the  most 
talented  do  not  always  prove  the  most  satis- 
factory students.  They  grasp  the  composer's 
ideas  quickly  enough,  it  is  true,  so  that  some- 
times in  a  few  days,  they  can  take  up  a  dif- 
ficult composition  and  dash  it  off  with  such 
showy  effect  as  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  super- 
ficial listener;  but  these  students  are  not  will- 
ing to  work  out  the  fine  points  of  the  piece  and 
polish  it  artistically.  Neither  are  they  will- 
ing to  get  right  o^wn  to  the  bed  rock  of  tech- 
nic and  work  at  that  seriously  and  thoroughly. 
If  this  course  is  suggested  they  grow  restive, 
think  they  are  being  held  back,  and  sometimes 
prefer  to  study  with  a  more  superficial  teacher. 
The  consequence  is  they  never  really  amount 
to  anything;  whereas  if  these  same  players  pos- 
sessed perseverance  along  with  their  talent 
they  could  become  great  artists.  I  would 
rather  have  an  intelligent,  earnest,  serious 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       183 

pupil,  who  is  obedient  and  willing  to  work, 
than  a  very  gifted  pupil.  The  two  seldom  go 
together.  When  you  find  both  in  one  person, 
a  marvelous  musician  is  the  result,  if  assisted 
by  the  right  sort  of  training. 

HARMONY   STUDY 

"One  thing  a  teacher  should  insist  upon,  and 
that  is  that  the  pupil  should  study  harmony. 
He  should  have  a  practical  working  knowl- 
edge of  keys,  chords,  and  progressions. 
There  may  be  no  need  for  him  to  study  or- 
chestration or  composition,  but  he  must  know 
the  foundation  and  structure  of  the  material 
of  music.  My  pupil  must  be  familiar  with 
the  various  chords  of  the  scale  and  know  how 
to  analyze  them,  before  I  can  make  clear  to 
him  the  rules  of  pedaling.  Without  this 
knowledge,  my  words  about  the  use  of  the 
pedals  are  as  so  much  Greek  to  him.  He 
must  go  and  learn  this  first,  before  coming  to 
me. 

ACCORDING   TO   RULE 

"Experience  counts  for  much  with  the 
teacher,  but  much  more  with  the  pianist.  The 
beginner  must  go  according  to  rule,  until  he 
has  thoroughly  mastered  the  rules.  He  must 


184  Piano   Mastery 

not  think  because  he  sees  a  great  artist  hold- 
ing his  hands  a  certain  way  at  times — turn- 
ing under  his  unemployed  fingers  for  octaves 
perhaps,  or  any  other  seeming  eccentricity, 
that  he  himself  is  at  liberty  to  do  the  same 
things.  No,  he  must  learn  to  play  in  a  nor- 
mal, safe  way  before  attempting  any  tricks. 
What  may  seem  eccentric  to  the  inexperienced 
student  may  be  quite  a  legitimate  means  of 
producing  certain  effects  to  the  mature  artist, 
who  through  wide  experience  and  study  knows 
just  the  effect  he  wants  and  the  way  to  make 
it.  The  artist  does  many  things  the  pupil 
should  not  attempt.  The  artist  knows  the 
capabilities  of  his  own  hand;  his  technic  is, 
in  a  certain  sense,  individual;  it  should  not  be 
imitated  by  the  learner  of  little  or  no  experi- 
ence. If  I  play  a  chord  passage  with  high 
wrist,  that  I  may  bring  out  a  certain  effect 
or  quality  of  tone  at  that  point,  the  thought- 
less student  might  be  under  the  impression  that 
a  high  wrist  was  habitual  with  me,  which  is 
not  true.  For  this  reason  I  do  not  give  single 
lessons  to  any  one,  nor  coach  on  single  pieces. 
In  the  case  of  the  interpretation  of  a  piece, 
a  student  can  get  the  ideas  of  it  from  hearing 
it  in  recital,  if  he  can  grasp  and  assimilate 
them. 


Fannie    Bloomfield   Zeisler       185 

ON    INTERPRETATION 

"Interpretation!  That  is  a  wide  subject; 
how  can  it  be  defined?  I  try  to  arouse  the 
imagination  of  the  student  first  of  all.  We 
speak  of  the  character  of  the  piece,  and  try 
to  arrive  at  some  idea  of  its  meaning.  Is  it 
largo — then  it  is  serious  and  soulful;  is  it 
scherzo — then  it  should  be  blithe  and  gay. 
We  cannot  depend  on  metronome  tempi,  for 
they  are  not  reliable.  Those  given  in  Schu- 
mann are  generally  all  wrong.  We  try  to  feel 
the  rhythm  of  the  music,  the  swing  of  it,  the 
spirit  of  it.  In  giving  out  the  opening  theme 
or  subject,  I  feel  it  should  be  made  prominent, 
to  arrest  attention,  to  make  it  clear  to  the 
listener;  when  it  appears  at  other  times  in  the 
piece,  it  can  be  softened  or  varied.  Variety 
of  effect  we  must  have;  but  whether  a  pas- 
sage is  played  with  decreasing  or  increasing 
tone,  whether  this  run  is  soft  and  the  next 
loud,  or  vice  versa,  does  not  matter  so  much 
as  to  secure  variety  and  individuality.  I  may 
look  at  it  one  way,  another  player  an  opposite 
way.  One  should  be  broad-minded  enough  to 
see  the  beauty  of  each  interpretation.  I  do 
not  expect  my  pupils  to  copy  me  or  do  things 
just  as  I  do  them.  I  show  them  how  I  do  it, 


186  Piano   Mastery 

then  leave  them  to  work  it  out  as  they  see  it. 
''Pianissimo  is  one  of  the  later  things  to 
teach.  A  beginner  should  not  attempt  it  too 
soon,  for  then  it  will  only  result  in  flabbiness. 
A  true  pianissimo  is  not  the  result  of  weak- 
ness but  of  strength. 


"America  has  made  marvelous  progress  in 
the  understanding  and  appreciation  of  music; 
even  the  critics,  many  of  them,  know  a  great 
deal  about  music.  The  audiences,  even  in 
small  towns,  are  a  pleasure  and  delight  to  play 
to.  I  am  asked  sometimes  why  I  attempt  the 
last  sonata  of  Beethoven  in  a  little  town.  But 
just  such  audiences  listen  to  that  work  with 
rapt  attention;  they  hang  on  every  note. 
How  are  they  to  learn  what  is  best  in  music 
unless  we  are  willing  to  give  it  to  them? 

"The  trouble  with  America  is  that  it  does  not 
at  all  realize  how  much  it  knows — how  much 
talent  is  here.  We  are  so  easily  tricked  with  a 
foreign  name  and  title;  our  serious  and  tal- 
ented musicians  are  constantly  being  pushed 
to  the  wall  by  some  unknown  with  a  name  end- 
ing in  ski.  These  are  the  people  who  tour 
America  (for  one  season  at  least),  who  get 
the  best  places  in  our  music  schools  and  col- 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       187 

leges,  crowding  out  our  native  musicians.  It 
makes  me  very  bitter  against  this  utterly  mis- 
taken and  fallacious  idea  of  ours.  I  have 
many  talented  students,  who  come  to  me  from 
all  over  the  country.  Some  of  them  become 
most  excellent  concert  artists.  If  I  recom- 
mend them  to  managers  or  institutions,  should 
not  my  word  count  for  something?  Ought  I 
not  to  know  what  my  students  can  do,  and  what 
is  required  of  a  concert  artist?  But  instead 
of  their  securing  an  engagement,  with  such  a 
recommendation,  a  foreigner  with  the  high- 
sounding  name  is  the  one  invariably  chosen. 
When  I  first  started  on  my  career  I  en- 
deavored in  every  way  to  get  a  proper  hear- 
ing in  America.  But  not  until  I  had  made  a 
name  for  myself  in  Europe  was  I  recognized 
here,  in  my  own  land.  All  honor  to  those  who 
are  now  fighting  for  the  musical  independence 
of  America!" 

A   GROUP   OF   QUESTIONS 

Not  long  after  the  above  conversation  with 
Mme.  Zeisler,  I  jotted  down  some  questions, 
leading  to  further  elucidation  of  her  manner 
of  teaching  and  playing,  and  sent  them  to  her. 
The  artist  was  then  fully  occupied  with  her 
long  and  arduous  tours  and  later  went  to 


188  Piano   Mastery 

Europe.  My  questions  remained  unanswered 
for  nearly  a  year.  When  she  next  played  in 
New  York,  she  sent  for  me  to  come  to  her 
hotel.  As  she  entered  the  room  to  greet  me, 
she  held  in  her  hand  the  paper  containing  the 
questions.  I  expressed  surprise  that  she  had 
preserved  the  bit  of  paper  so  long. 

"I  am  very  conscientious,"  she  answered; 
"I  have  kept  this  ever  since  you  sent  it,  and 
now  we  will  talk  over  the  topics  you  sug- 
gest." 

(1)  What  means  do  you  favor  for  gaining 
power? 

"I  can  say — none.  There  is  no  necessity 
for  using  special  means  to  acquire  power; 
when  everything  is  right  you  will  have  suf- 
ficient power;  you  cannot  help  having  it.  If 
you  know  the  piece  thoroughly,  your  fingers 
have  acquired  the  necessary  strength  through 
efficient  practise,  so  that  when  the  time  comes 
to  make  the  desired  effects,  you  have  the 
strength  to  make  them,  provided  everything  is 
as  it  should  be  with  your  technic.  Power  is  a 
comparative  term  at  best ;  one  pianist  may  play 
on  a  larger  scale  than  another.  I  am  reminded 
of  an  amusing  incident  in  this  connection.  My 
son  Paul,  when  a  little  fellow,  was  fond  of 
boasting  about  his  mother;  I  could  not  seem  to 


Fannie    Bloomfield   Zeisler       189 

break  him  of  it.  One  day  he  got  into  an  ar- 
gument with  another  boy,  who  asserted  that 
his  father,  an  amateur  pianist,  could  play  bet- 
ter than  Paul's  mother,  because  he  'could  play 
louder,  anyway.'  I  don't  know  whether  they 
fought  it  out  or  not ;  but  my  boy  told  me  about 
the  dispute  afterward. 

'What    do    you    think    makes    a    great 
player?'  I  asked  him. 

'  'If  you  play  soft  enough  and  loud  enough, 
slow  enough  and  fast  enough,  and  it  sounds 
nice,'  was  his  answer.  It  is  the  whole  thing 
in  a  nutshell:  and  he  was  such  a  little  fellow 
at  the  time! 

"As  I  said,  you  must  have  everything  right 
with  your  technic,  then  both  power  and  veloc- 
ity will  come  almost  unconsciously." 

(2)    What  do  you  do  for  weak  finger  joints? 

"They  must  be  made  strong  at  once.  When 
a  new  pupil  comes  to  me  the  first  thing  we  do 
is  to  get  the  hand  into  correct  position,  and 
the  fingers  rounded  and  firm.  If  the  pupil 
is  intelligent  and  quick,  this  can  be  accom- 
plished in  a  few  weeks;  sometimes  it  takes 
several  months.  But  it  must  be  done.  Of 
what  use  is  it  to  attempt  a  Beethoven  sonata 
when  the  fingers  are  so  weak  that  they  cave 
in.  The  fingers  must  keep  their  rounded  posi- 


190  Piano   Mastery 

tion  and  be  strong  enough  to  bear  up  under 
the  weight  you  put  upon  them.  As  you  say, 
this  work  can  be  done  at  a  table,  but  I  gen- 
erally prefer  the  keyboard;  wood  is  so  un- 
responsive. 

"I  think,  for  this  work,  children  are  easier 
to  handle  than  their  elders;  they  have  no 
faults  to  correct;  they  like  to  hold  their  hands 
well  and  make  them  look  pretty.  They  ought 
to  have  a  keyboard  adapted  to  their  little  deli- 
cate muscles,  with  action  much  less  heavy  than 
two  ounces,  the  minimum  weight  of  the  clavier. 
As  they  grow  and  gain  strength,  the  weight 
can  be  increased.  If  they  should  attempt  to 
use  my  instrument  with  its  heavy  action,  they 
would  lame  the  hand  in  a  few  moments  or 
their  little  fingers  could  not  stand  up  under 
the  weight." 

(3)   Do  you  approve  of  finger  action? 

"Most  emphatically.  Finger  action  is  an 
absolute  essential  in  playing  the  piano.  We 
must  have  finger  development.  As  you  say, 
we  can  never  make  the  fingers  equal  in  them- 
selves; we  might  practise  five  hundred  years 
without  rendering  the  fourth  finger  as  strong 
as  the  thumb.  Rather  let  us  learn  to  so  ad- 
just the  weight  and  pressure  of  each  finger, 
that  all  will  sound  equal,  whenever  we  wish 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       191 

them  to  do  so.  I  tell  my  pupils  that  in  re- 
gard to  strength,  their  fingers  are  in  this  re- 
lation to  each  other,"  and  the  pianist  drew  with 
her  pencil  four  little  upright  lines  on  the  paper, 
representing  the  relative  natural  weight  of  the 
four  fingers.  "The  fifth  finger,"  she  said, 
"figures  very  little  in  scale  or  passage  playing. 
By  correct  methods  of  study  the  pupil  learns 
to  lighten  the  pressure  of  the  stronger  fingers 
and  proportionately  increase  the  weight  of  the 
weaker  fingers." 

(4)  Do  you  approve  of  technic  practise  out- 
side of  pieces? 

"I  certainly  do.  The  amount  of  time  given 
to  technic  study  varies  with  the  pupil's  stage 
of  advancement.  In  the  beginning,  the  whole 
four  hours  must  be  devoted  to  technic  prac- 
tise. When  some  degree  of  facility  and  con- 
trol have  been  attained,  the  amount  may  be 
cut  down  to  two  hours.  Later  one  hour  is 
sufficient,  and  when  one  is  far  advanced  a  very 
short  time  will  suffice  to  put  the  hand  in  trim ; 
some  rapid,  brilliant  arpeggios,  or  an  etude 
with  much  finger  work  may  be  all  that  is  neces- 
sary. 

"The  player  gains  constantly  in  strength 
and  technical  control  while  studying  pieces, 
provided  correct  methods  are  pursued.  Every 


192  Piano   Mastery 

piece  is  first  of  all  a  study  in  technic.  The 
foundation  must  be  rightly  laid;  the  prin- 
ciples can  then  be  applied  to  etude  and 
piece." 

(5)  What  do  you  consider  the  most  vital 
technical  points? 

"That  is  a  difficult  question,  involving  every- 
thing about  piano  playing.  There  are  the 
scales  of  all  kinds,  in  single  and  double  notes. 
Arpeggios  are  of  great  importance,  because, 
in  one  form  or  another,  they  constantly  occur. 
Octaves,  chords,  pedaling,  and  so  on." 

"The  trill,  too,"  I  suggested. 

"Yes,  the  trill;  but,  after  all,  the  trill  is  a 
somewhat  individual  matter.  Some  players 
seem  to  have  it  naturally,  or  have  very  little 
trouble  with  it;  others  always  have  more  or 
less  difficulty.  They  do  not  seem  able  to  play 
a  rapid,  even  trill.  Many  are  unable  to  finish 
it  off  deftly  and  artistically.  They  can  trill 
for  a  certain  number  of  repetitions ;  when  they 
become  accustomed  to  the  monotonous  repeti- 
tion it  is  not  so  easy  to  go  into  the  ending  with- 
out a  break." 

(6)  What  means  do  you  advise  to  secure 
velocity  ? 

"I  make  the  same  answer  to  this  question 
that  I  made  to  the  first — none.  I  never  work 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       193 

for  velocity,  nor  do  I  work  up  velocity.  That 
is  a  matter  that  generally  takes  care  of  itself. 
If  you  know  the  piece  absolutely,  know  what 
it  means  and  the  effects  you  want  to  make, 
there  will  be  little  difficulty  in  getting  over  the 
keys  at  the  tempo  required.  Of  course  this 
does  not  apply  to  the  pupil  who  is  playing 
wrong,  with  weak  fingers,  uncertain  touch  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  accompanying  faults.  I 
grant  that  these  faults  may  not  be  so  apparent 
in  a  piece  of  slow  tempo.  A  pupil  may  be  able 
to  get  through  Handel's  Largo,  for  instance; 
though  his  fingers  are  uncertain  he  can  make 
the  theme  sound  half-way  respectable,  while  a 
piece  in  rapid  tempo  will  be  quite  beyond  him. 
The  faults  were  in  the  Largo  just  the  same, 
but  they  did  not  show.  Rapid  music  reveals 
them  at  once.  Certain  composers  require  al- 
most a  perfect  technical  equipment  in  order 
to  render  their  music  with  adequate  effect. 
Mozart  is  one  of  these.  Much  of  his  music 
looks  simple,  and  is  really  quite  easy  to  read; 
but  to  play  it  as  it  should  be  played  is  another 
thing  entirely.  I  seldom  give  Mozart  to  my 
pupils.  Those  endless  scales,  arpeggios  and 
passages,  which  must  be  flawless,  in  which  you 
dare  not  blur  or  miss  a  single  note!  To  play 
this  music  with  just  the  right  spirit,  you  must 


194  Piano   Mastery 

put  yourself  en  rapport  with  the  epoch  in 
which  it  was  written — the  era  of  crinoline, 
powdered  wigs,  snuffboxes  and  mincing  min- 
uets. I  don't  mean  to  say  Mozart's  music 
is  not  emotional;  it  is  filled  with  it,  but  it  is 
not  the  emotion  of  to-day,  but  of  yesterday, 
of  more  than  a  century  back. 

"For  myself,  I  love  Mozart's  music.  One 
of  my  greatest  successes  was  in  a  Mozart  con- 
certo with  the  Chicago  Orchestra.  I  after- 
ward remarked  to  one  of  my  colleagues  that 
it  had  been  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  I 
had  ever  accomplished.  'Yes,  when  one  plays 
Mozart  one  is  so  exposed'  was  his  clever  re- 
joinder." 

(7)  How  do  you  keep  repertoire  in  re- 
pair? 

"If  you  mean  my  own,  I  would  answer  that 
I  don't  try  to  keep  all  my  pieces  up,  for  I 
have  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them,  and  I 
must  always  save  time  to  study  new  works. 
A  certain  number  are  always  kept  in  practise, 
different  programs,  according  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  hour.  My  method  of  practise  is 
to  play  slowly  through  the  piece,  carefully 
noting  the  spots  that  are  weak  and  need  spe- 
cial treatment.  To  these  I  give  a  certain 
number  of  repetitions,  and  then  repeat  the 


Fannie   Bloomfield   Zeisler       195 

whole  to  see  if  the  weak  places  are  equal  in 
smoothness  to  the  rest.  If  not,  they  must 
have  more  study.  But  always  slow  practise. 
Only  occasionally  do  I  go  through  the  piece  at 
the  required  velocity. 

"My  pupils  are  always  counseled  to  practise 
slowly.  If  they  bring  the  piece  for  a  first  hear- 
ing, it  must  be  slowly  and  carefully  played; 
if  for  a  second  or  third  hearing,  and  they  know 
it  well  enough  to  take  it  up  to  time,  they  can 
play  it  occasionally  at  this  tempo  before  com- 
ing to  me.  But  to  constantly  play  a  piece  in 
rapid  tempo  is  very  harmful;  it  precludes  all 
thought  of  analysis,  of  how  you  are  doing  it. 
When  you  are  playing  at  concert  speed,  you 
have  no  time  to  think  of  fingering,  movement 
or  condition — you  are  beyond  all  that.  It  is 
only  in  slow  practise  that  you  have  time  and 
opportunity  to  think  of  everything. 

"As  an  illustration,  take  the  case  of  a  pian- 
ist in  a  traveling  concert  company.  He  must 
play  the  same  pieces  night  after  night,  with 
no  opportunity  to  practise  between.  For  the 
first  few  days  the  pieces  go  well;  then  small 
errors  and  weak  spots  begin  to  appear.  There 
is  no  time  for  slow  practise,  so  each  nightly 
repetition  increases  the  uncertainty.  In  a  few 
months  his  playing  degenerates  so  it  is  hardly 


196  Piano   Mastery 

fit  to  listen  to.     This  is  the  result  of  constant 
fast  playing." 

(8)  How  do  you  keep  technic  up  to  the 
standard? 

"If  one  is  far  advanced  a  few  arpeggios  and 
scales,  or  a  brilliant  etude  will  put  the  hand 
in  condition.  After  one  has  rested,  or  had  a 
vacation,  some  foundational  exercises  and  fin- 
ger movements  may  be  necessary,  to  limber 
up  the  muscles  and  regain  control  and  quick- 
ness. One  may  often  have  to  review  first 
principles,  but  technical  facility  is  soon  re- 
gained if  it  has  once  been  thoroughly  ac- 
quired. If  one  has  stopped  practise  for  quite 
a  period,  the  return  is  slower,  and  needs  to 
be  more  carefully  prepared. 

"I  use  considerable  Czerny  for  technical 
purposes,  with  my  pupils.  Op.  299,  of  course, 
and  even  earlier  or  easier  ones;  then  Op.  740. 
A  few  of  the  latter  are  most  excellent  for  keep- 
ing up  one's  technic.  The  Chopin  Studies, 
too,  are  daily  bread." 

(9)  The  best  way  to  study  chords? 
"From  the  wrist  and  with  fingers  of  steel. 

Small  hands  must  of  course  begin  with  smaller 
positions." 

( 10)  What  gymnastic  exercises  do  you  sug- 
gest? 


Fannie   Bloomfield    Zeisler       197 

"Whatever  seems  necessary  for  the  special 
hand.  Tight  hands  need  to  be  massaged  to 
limber  the  fingers  and  stretch  the  web  of  flesh 
between  them.  The  loose,  flabby  hand  may 
also  be  strengthened  and  rendered  firm  by 
massage;  but  this  is  often  a  more  difficult  task 
than  to  stretch  the  tight  hand.  If  technical 
training  is  properly  given,  it  is  sure  to  render 
the  hand  flexible  and  strong." 


XXV 

AGNES  MORGAN 

SIMPLICITY  IN  PIANO  TEACHING 

ONE  of  the  busiest  of  New  York  piano 
teachers,  whose  list  of  students  taking  private 
lessons  in  a  season,  almost  touches  the  hun- 
dred mark,  is  Mrs.  Agnes  Morgan.  Mrs. 
Morgan  has  been  laboring  in  this  field  for  more 
than  two  decades,  with  ever  increasing  suc- 
cess. And  yet  so  quietly  and  unobtrusively 
is  all  this  accomplished,  that  the  world  only 
knows  of  the  teacher  through  the  work  done 
by  her  pupils.  The  teacher  has  now  risen  to 
the  point  where  she  can  pick  and  choose  her 
own  pupils,  which  is  a  great  comfort  to  her,  for 
it  dispels  much  of  the  drudgery  of  piano  teach- 
ing, and  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  she  loves  her 
work. 

When  one  teaches  from  nine  in  the  morning 
till  after  six  every  day  of  the  season,  it  is  not 
easy  to  find  a  leisure  hour  in  which  to  discuss 
means  and  methods.  By  a  fortunate  chance, 
however,  such  an  interview  was  recently  pos- 
sible. 

198 


Agnes   Morgan  199 

The  questions  had  been  borne  in  upon  me: 
By  what  art  or  influence  has  this  teacher  at- 
tracted so  large  a  following?  What  is  it 
which  brings  to  her  side  not  only  the  society 
girl  but  the  serious  art-student  and  young 
teacher?  What  is  the  magnet  which  draws  so 
many  pupils  to  her  that  five  assistants  are 
needed  to  prepare  those  who  are  not  yet  ready 
to  profit  by  her  instruction  ?  When  I  came  in 
touch  with  this  modest,  unassuming  woman, 
who  greeted  me  with  simple  cordiality,  and 
spoke  with  quiet  dignity  of  her  work,  I  felt 
that  the  only  magnet  was  the  ability  to  impart 
definite  ideas  in  the  simplest  possible  way. 

"Dr.  William  Mason,  with  whom  I  studied," 
began  Mrs.  Morgan,  "used  to  say  that  a  musi- 
cal touch  was  born,  not  made ;  but  I  have  found 
it  possible  to  so  instruct  a  pupil  that  she  can 
make  as  beautiful  a  tone  as  can  be  made;  even 
a  child  can  do  this.  The  whole  secret  lies  in 
arm  and  wrist  relaxation,  with  arched  hand, 
and  firm  nail  joint. 

INSPIRATION    FROM   AN   AMERICAN 
TEACHER 

"I  feel  that  Dr.  Mason  himself  was  the  one 
who  made  me  see  the  reason  of  things.  I  had 
always  played  more  or  less  brilliantly,  for 


200  Piano   Mastery 

technic  came  rather  easy  to  me.  I  had  studied 
in  Leipsic,  where  I  may  say  I  learned  little  or 
nothing  about  the  principles  of  piano  playing, 
but  only  'crammed'  a  great  number  of  difficult 
compositions.  I  had  been  with  Moszkowski 
also;  but  it  was  really  Dr.  Mason,  an  Ameri- 
can teacher,  who  first  set  me  thinking.  I  be- 
gan to  think  so  earnestly  about  the  reason  for 
doing  things  that  I  often  argued  the  points 
out  with  him,  until  he  would  laugh  and  say, 
'You  go  one  way  and  I  go  another,  but  we  both 
reach  the  same  point  in  the  end.'  And  from 
that  time  I  have  gone  on  and  on  until  I  have 
evolved  my  own  system  of  doing  things.  A 
teacher  cannot  stand  still.  I  would  be  a  fool 
not  to  profit  by  the  experience  gained  through 
each  pupil,  for  each  one  is  a  separate  study. 
This  has  been  a  growth  of  perhaps  twenty-five 
years — as  the  result  of  my  effort  to  present  the 
subject  of  piano  technic  in  the  most  concise 
form.  I  have  been  constantly  learning  what  is 
not  essential,  and  what  can  be  omitted. 

SIMPLICITY 

"Simplicity  is  the  keynote  of  my  work.  I 
try  to  teach  only  the  essentials.  There  are  so 
many  etudes  and  studies  that  are  good. 
Czerny,  for  instance,  is  splendid.  I  believe  in 


Agnes   Morgan  201 

it  all,  but  there  is  not  time  for  much  of  it.  So 
with  Bach.  I  approve  of  studying  everything 
we  have  of  his  for  piano,  from  the  'Little 
Pieces'  up  to  the  big  Preludes  and  Fugues. 
Whenever  I  can  I  use  Bach.  But  here  again 
we  have  not  time  to  use  as  much  of  Bach  as 
we  should  like.  Still  I  do  the  best  I  can. 
Even  with  those  who  have  not  a  great  deal  of 
time  to  practise,  I  get  in  a  Bach  Invention 
whenever  possible. 

"When  a  new  pupil  comes  who  is  just  start- 
ing, or  has  been  badly  taught,  she  must  of 
course  begin  with  hand  formation.  She  learns 
to  form  the  arch  of  the  hand  and  secure  firm 
finger  joints,  especially  the  nail  joint.  I  form 
the  hand  away  from  the  piano,  at  a  table. 
Nothing  can  be  done  toward  playing  till  these 
things  are  accomplished.  I  often  have  pupils 
who  have  been  playing  difficult  music  for 
years,  and  who  consider  themselves  far  ad- 
vanced. When  I  show  them  some  of  these 
simple  things,  they  consider  them  far  too  easy 
until  they  find  they  cannot  do  them.  Some- 
times nothing  can  be  done  with  such  pupils 
until  they  are  willing  to  get  right  down  to  rock 
bottom,  and  leani  how  to  form  the  hand.  As 
to  the  length  of  time  required,  it  depends  on 
the  mentality  of  the  pupil  and  the  kind  of 


202  Piano   Mastery 

hand.  Some  hands  are  naturally  very  soft 
and  flabby,  and  of  course  it  is  more  difficult  to 
render  them  strong. 

FINGER  ACTION 

"When  the  arch  of  the  hand  is  formed,  we 
cultivate  intelligent  movement  in  the  finger 
tips,  and  for  this  we  must  have  a  strong,  de- 
pendable nail  joint.  Of  course  young  stu- 
dents must  have  knuckle  action  of  the  fingers, 
but  I  disapprove  of  fingers  being  raised  too 
high.  As  we  advance,  and  the  nail  joint  be- 
comes firmer  and  more  controlled,  there  is  not 
so  great  need  for  much  finger  action.  Veloc- 
ity is  acquired  by  less  and  less  action  of  the 
fingers;  force  is  gained  by  allowing  arm 
weight  to  rest  on  the  fingers;  lightness  and 
delicacy  by  taking  the  arm  weight  off  the  fin- 
gers— holding  it  back. 

"I  use  no  instruction  books  for  technical 
drill,  but  give  my  own  exercises,  or  select 
them  from  various  sources.  Certain  principles 
must  govern  the  daily  practise,  from  the  first. 
When  they  are  mastered  in  simple  forms  later 
work  is  only  development.  Loose  wrist  exer- 
cises, in  octaves,  sixths,  or  other  forms,  should 
form  a  part  of  the  daily  routine.  So  should 
scale  playing,  for  I  am  a  firm  believer  in  scales 


Agnes   Morgan  203 

of  all  kinds.  Chords  are  an  important  item 
of  practise.  How  few  students,  uninstructed 
in  their  principles,  ever  play  good  chords? 
They  either  flap  the  hand  down  from  the  wrist, 
with  a  weak,  thin  tone,  or  else  they  play  with 
stiff,  high  wrists  and  arms,  making  a  hard, 
harsh  tone.  In  neither  case  do  they  use  any 
arm  weight.  It  often  takes  some  time  to 
make  them  see  the  principles  of  arm  weight 
and  finger  grasp. 

QUESTIONS   OF  PEDALING 

"Another  point  which  does  not  receive  the 
attention  it  deserves  is  pedaling.  Few  stu- 
dents have  a  true  idea  of  the  technic  of  the  foot 
on  the  pedal.  They  seem  to  know  only  one 
way  to  use  the  damper  pedal,  and  that  is  to 
come  down  hard  on  it,  perhaps  giving  it  a 
thump  at  the  same  time.  I  give  special  pre- 
paratory exercises  for  pedal  use.  Placing  the 
heel  on  the  floor,  and  the  forepart  of  the  foot 
on  the  pedal,  they  learn  to  make  one  depres- 
sion with  every  stroke  of  the  metronome ;  when 
this  can  be  done  with  ease,  then  two  depres- 
sions to  the  beat,  and  so  on.  In  this  exercise 
the  pedal  is  not  pressed  fully  down;  on  the 
contrary  there  is  but  a  slight  depression;  this 
vibration  on  the  pedal  has  the  effect  of  a  con- 


204  Piano   Mastery 

stant  shimmering  of  light  upon  the  tones, 
which  is  very  beautiful."  Here  the  artist  il- 
lustrated most  convincingly  with  a  portion  of 
a  Chopin  Prelude.  "One  needs  a  flexible 
ankle  to  use  the  pedal  properly;  indeed  the 
ankle  should  be  as  pliant  as  the  wrist.  I  know 
of  no  one  else  who  uses  the  pedal  in  just  this 
fashion ;  so  I  feel  as  though  I  had  discovered  it. 

"Yes,  I  have  numbers  of  pupils  among  soci- 
ety people;  girls  who  go  out  a  good  deal  and 
yet  find  time  to  practise  a  couple  hours  a 
day.  The  present  tendency  of  the  wealthy  is 
to  take  a  far  more  serious  view  of  music  study 
than  was  formerly  the  case.  They  feel  its  up- 
lifting and  ennobling  influence,  respect  its 
teachers,  and  endeavor  to  do  carefully  and  well 
whatever  they  attempt. 

"While  necessary  and  important,  the  tech- 
nical foundation  is  after  all  but  a  small  part 
compared  to  the  training  for  rhythmic  sense, 
and  for  the  knowledge  of  how  to  produce  good 
and  beautiful  results  in  musical  interpreta- 
tion." 


XXVI 

EUGENE  HEFFLEY 

MODERN  TENDENCIES  IN  PIANO  MUSIC 

EUGENE  HEFFLEY,  the  Founder  and  first 
President  of  the  MacDowell  Club,  of  New 
York,  a  pianist  and  teacher  of  high  ideals  and 
most  serious  aims,  came  to  New  York  from 
Pittsburg,  in  1900,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mac- 
Dowell himself.  He  came  to  make  a  place 
for  himself  in  the  profession  of  the  metropolis, 
and  has  proved  himself  a  thoroughly  sincere 
and  devoted  teacher,  as  well  as  a  most  inspir- 
ing master;  he  has  trained  numerous  young 
artists  who  are  winning  success  as  pianists  and 
teaqhers. 

Mr.  Heffley,  while  entertaining  reverence 
for  the  older  masters,  is  very  progressive,  al- 
ways on  the  alert  to  discover  a  new  trend  of 
thought,  a  new  composer,  a  new  gospel  in 
musical  art.  He  did  much  to  make  known 
and  arouse  enthusiasm  for  MacDowell's  com- 
positions, when  they  were  as  yet  almost  un- 
heard of  in  America.  In  an  equally  broad 

205 


206  Piano   Mastery 

spirit  does  he  introduce  to  his  students  the 
works  of  the  ultra  modern  school,  Debussy, 
Rachmaninoff,  Florent  Schmitt,  Reger, 
Liadow,  Poldini  and  others. 

"My  students  like  to  learn  these  new  things, 
and  the  audiences  that  gather  here  in  the 
studio  for  our  recitals,  come  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  being  enlightened  in  regard  to  new 
and  seldom  heard  works,  and  we  do  not  dis- 
appoint them.  Florent  Schmitt,  in  spite  of 
his  German  surname,  is  thoroughly  French  in 
his  manner  and  idiom,  though  they  are  not  of 
the  style  of  Debussy;  he  has  written  some 
beautiful  things  for  the  piano;  a  set  of  short 
pieces  which  are  little  gems.  I  rank  Rach- 
maninoff very  highly,  and  of  course  use  his 
Preludes,  not  only  the  well-known  ones — the 
C  and  G  minor — but  the  set  of  thirteen  in  one 
opus  number;  they  are  most  interesting.  I 
use  a  good  deal  of  Russian  music ;  Liadow  has 
composed  some  beautiful  things;  but  Tschai- 
kowsky,  in  his  piano  music,  is  too  complaining 
and  morbid,  as  a  rule,  though  he  is  occasionally 
in  a  more  cheerful  mood.  It  seems  as  though 
music  has  said  all  it  can  say  along  consonant 
lines,  and  regular  rhythms.  We  must  look 
for  its  advancement  in  the  realm  of  Disso- 
nance ;  not  only  in  this  but  in  the  way  of  variety 


Eugene   Heffley  207 

in  Rhythm.  How  these  modern  composers 
vary  their  rhythms,  sometimes  three  or  four 
different  ones  going  at  once!  It  is  the  unex- 
pected which  attracts  us  in  musical  and  literary 
art,  as  well  as  in  other  things:  we  don't  want 
to  know  what  is  coming  next;  we  want  to  be 
surprised. 

"Of  the  classic  literature,  I  use  much  Bach, 
when  I  can.  I  used  to  give  more  Mozart  than 
I  do  now;  latterly  I  have  inclined  toward 
Haydn;  his  Variations  and  Sonatas  are  fine; 
my  students  seem  to  prefer  Haydn  also.  I 
thoroughly  believe  in  the  value  of  polyphonic 
music  as  a  mental  study;  it  is  a  necessity. 
And  Bach  is  such  a  towering  figure,  such  a 
rock  of  strength  in  musical  art.  Bach  was 
essentially  a  Christian,  and  this  element  of 
devoutness,  of  worship,  shines  out  in  every- 
thing he  wrote.  I  do  not  believe  that  music, 
without  this  element  of  worship,  will  live. 
Tschaikowsky  did  not  have  it,  nor  Berlioz,  nor 
even  Mozart,  for  Mozart  wrote  merely  from 
the  idea  of  sheer  beauty  of  sound ;  in  that  sense 
he  was  a  pagan.  I  doubt  if  Strauss  has  it. 
One  cannot  foresee  how  the  future  will  judge 
the  music  of  to-day;  what  will  it  think  of 
Schonberg?  I  am  holding  in  abeyance  any 
opinion  I  might  form  regarding  his  work  till 


208  Piano   Mastery 

I  have  had  more  time  to  kno.w  it  better.  I 
can  only  say  I  have  heard  his  string  Quartet 
three  times.  The  first  time  I  found  much  in 
it  to  admire ;  the  second  time  I  was  profoundly 
moved  by  certain  parts  of  it,  and  on  the  third 
occasion  I  felt  that  the  work,  especially  the 
latter  part,  contained  some  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful music  I  had  ever  listened  to. 

"In  regard  to  the  technical  training  my 
pupils  receive,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  formulate 
my  manner  of  teaching.  Each  pupil  is  a  sep- 
arate study,  and  is  different  from  every  other. 
As  you  well  know,  I  am  not  a  'method  man': 
I  have  little  use  for  the  so-called  piano  method. 
To  be  a  true  teacher  of  the  piano  is  a  high  call- 
ing indeed ;  for  there  are  many  pedagogues  but 
comparatively  few  real  teachers.  I  make  a 
distinction  between  the  two.  A  pedagogue  is 
one  who,  filled  with  many  rules  and  much 
learning,  endeavors  to  pour  his  knowledge  into 
the  pupil;  whereas  the  true  teacher  seeks  to 
draw  out  what  is  in  the  pupil.  He  strives  to 
find  what  the  pupil  has  aptitude  for,  what  he 
likes  to  do  and  can  do  best.  The  teacher  must 
be  something  of  a  psychologist,  or  how  can  he 
correctly  judge  of  the  pupil's  temperament, 
his  tastes,  his  mentality,  and  what  to  do  for 
him? 


Eugene   Heffley  209 

"When  a  new  pupil  comes,  I  must  make  a 
mental  appraisement  of  his  capacity,  his  likeli- 
hood to  grasp  the  subject,  his  quickness  of  in- 
telligence, his  health,  and  so  on.  No  two 
pupils  can  be  treated  in  the  same  way.  One 
who  has  little  continuity,  who  has  never  fol- 
lowed out  a  serious  line  of  thought  in  any  di- 
rection, must  be  treated  quite  differently  from 
one  of  an  opposite  mentality  and  experience. 
It  would  be  useless  to  give  Bach  to  the  first 
pupil,  it  would  only  be  a  waste  of  time  and 
patience:  he  could  not  comprehend  the  music 
in  any  sense;  he  would  have  no  conception  of 
the  great  things  that  Bach  stands  for.  Such 
a  course  of  treatment  would  only  make  him 
hate  music;  whereas  to  one  of  a  more  serious 
and  thoughtful  turn  of  mind,  you  might  give 
any  amount  of  Bach. 

"A  student  with  a  poor  touch  and  undevel- 
oped hand,  must  go  through  a  regular  course 
of  training.  The  hand  is  first  placed  in  posi- 
tion, either  at  the  keyboard  or  on  a  table;  the 
fingers  are  taught  to  start  with  up  movements, 
as  the  lifting  muscles  need  special  attention. 
A  muscle  or  a  finger,  is  either  taut,  flabby  or 
stiff ;  it  is  the  taut  condition  I  strive  for — to 
make  the  finger  responsive,  like  a  fine  steel 
spring. 


210  Piano  Mastery 

"It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  establish  cor- 
rect finger  action  at  the  outset;  for  the  sake  of 
finger  development,  clearness,  and  accuracy. 
When  single  fingers  can  make  accurate  up  and 
down  movements,  we  can  put  two  fingers  to- 
gether and  acquire  a  perfect  legato.  I  teach 
three  kinds  of  legato — the  passage  legato,  the 
singing  legato,  and  the  accompanying  legato; 
the  pupil  must  master  the  first  before  attempt- 
ing the  others.  I  advise  technic  practise  with 
each  hand  alone,  for  you  must  know  I  am  a 
firm  believer  in  the  study  of  pure  technic  out- 
side of  pieces. 

"As  the  student  advances  we  take  up  chord 
playing  with  different  touches,  scales,  arpeg- 
gios and  octaves.  I  institute  quite  early  what 
I  call  polyphonic  technic — one  hand  doing  a 
different  movement  or  touch  from  the  other. 
This  works  out  in  scales  and  arpeggios  with  a 
variety  of  touches — one  hand  playing  a  pas- 
sage or  scale  staccato  while  the  other  plays 
legato,  and  vice  versa." 

Asked  if  he  taught  technical  material  with- 
out a  book,  Mr.  Heffley  replied : 

"No,  I  generally  use  the  Heinrich  Germer 
work,  as  it  covers  the  ground  very  satisfac- 
torily; it  is  compact,  concise,  and  complete  in 
one  volume.  I  also  use  Mertke  to  some  ex- 


Eugene   Heffley  211 

tent.  Every  form  of  exercise  must  be  worked 
out  in  all  keys;  I  find  the  books  useful  for  all 
kinds  of  students.  I  may  add  that  I  use  com- 
paratively few  etudes. 

"If  the  student  seems  to  have  a  very  imper- 
fect rhythmic  sense,  I  use  the  metronome,  but 
as  sparingly  as  possible,  for  I  want  to  estab- 
lish the  inner  sense  of  rhythm. 

"In  regard  to  memorizing.  I  give  no  spe- 
cial advice,  but  counsel  the  student  to  employ 
the  way  which  is  easiest  and  most  natural  to 
him.  There  are  three  distinct  ways  of  com- 
mitting music:  the  Analytic,  Photographic, 
and  Muscular.  The  Analytic  memory  picks 
the  passage  apart  and  learns  just  how  it  is 
constructed,  and  why ;  the  Photographic  mem- 
ory can  see  the  veritable  picture  of  the  passage 
before  the  mind's  eye;  while  the  Muscular 
memory  lets  the  fingers  find  the  notes.  This 
is  not  a  very  reliable  method,  but  some  pupils 
have  to  learn  in  this  way.  Of  course  the 
Analytical  memory  is  the  best ;  when  the  pupil 
has  the  mental  ability  to  think  music  in  this 
way,  I  strongly  recommend  it. 

"One  point  I  make  much  of  in  my  teaching, 
and  that  is  Tone  Color,  as  a  distinct  factor  in 
musical  interpretation.  It  is  not  merely  a 
question  of  using  the  marks  of  expression, 


212  Piano   Mastery 

such  as  FF,  MF,  PP,  and  so  on;  it  is  more 
subtle  than  that — it  is  the  quality  of  tone  I 
seek  after.  Sometimes  I  work  with  a  pupil 
for  several  minutes  over  a  single  tone,  until  he 
really  comprehends  what  he  has  to  do  to  pro- 
duce the  right  quality  of  tone,  and  can  remem- 
ber how  he  did  it.  The  pedal  helps  wonder- 
fully, for  it  is  truly  the  'soul  of  the  piano.' 

"Some  pupils  have  fancy  but  no  imagina- 
tion, and  vice  versa.  The  terms  are  not  syn- 
onymous. Reading  poetry  helps  to  develop 
the  aesthetic  sense;  pictures  help  also,  and  na- 
ture. I  must  necessarily  take  into  account  the 
pupil's  trend  of  temperament  while  instruct- 
ing him. 

"Interpretative  expression  is  not  a  positive 
but  a  relative  quantity.  One  player's  palette 
is  covered  with  large  blotches  of  color,  and  he 
will  paint  the  picture  with  bold  strokes;  an- 
other delights  in  delicate  miniature  work. 
Each  will  conceive  the  meaning  and  interpre- 
tation of  a  composition  through  the  lens  of  his 
own  temperament.  I  endeavor  to  stimulate 
the  imagination  of  the  pupil  through  reading, 
through  knowledge  of  art,  through  a  compre- 
hension of  the  correlation  of  all  the  arts. 

"The  musical  interpreter  has  a  most  diffi- 
cult, exacting  and  far-reaching  task  to  per- 


Eugene   Heffley  213 

form.  An  actor  plays  one  part  night  after 
night ;  a  painter  is  occupied  for  days  and  weeks 
with  a  single  picture;  a  composer  is  absorbed 
for  the  time  being  on  one  work  only.  The 
pianist,  on  the  other  hand,  must,  during  a  re- 
cital, sweep  over  the  whole  gamut  of  expres- 
sion :  the  simple,  the  pastoral,  the  pathetic,  the 
passionate,  the  spiritual — he  is  called  upon  to 
portray  every  phase  of  emotion.  This  seems 
to  me  a  bigger  task  than  is  set  before  any  other 
class  of  art-workers.  The  pianist  must  be  able 
to  render  with  appropriate  sentiment  the  sim- 
plicity and  fresh  naivete  of  the  earlier  classics, 
Haydn,  Mozart;  the  grandeur  of  Bach;  the 
heroic  measures  of  Beethoven;  the  morbid  ele- 
gance of  Chopin;  the  romanticism  of  Schu- 
mann; the  magnificent  splendor  of  Liszt. 

"In  choosing  musical  food  for  my  pupils,  I 
strive  to  keep  away  from  the  beaten  track  of 
the  hackneyed.  The  mistake  made  by  many 
teachers  is  to  give  far  too  difficult  music. 
Why  should  I  teach  an  old  war-horse  which 
the  pupil  has  to  struggle  over  for  six  months 
without  being  really  able  to  master,  and  which 
he  will  thoroughly  hate  at  the  end  of  that  time? 
The  Scherzo  Op.  31,  of  Chopin,  and  the  Liszt 
Rhapsodies  he  can  hear  in  the  concert  room, 
where  he  can  become  familiar  with  most  of  the 


214  Piano   Mastery 

famous  piano  compositions.  Why  should  he 
not  learn  to  know  many  less  hackneyed  pieces, 
which  do  not  so  frequently  appear  on  concert 
programs  ? 

"Herein  lies  one  of  the  great  opportunities 
for  the  broad-minded  teacher — to  be  individ- 
ual in  his  work.  According  to  his  progressive 
individuality  will  his  work  be  valued." 


XXVII 
GERMAINE  SCHNITZER 

MODERN  METHODS  IN  PIANO  STUDY 

"!T  is  difficult  to  define  such  a  comprehen- 
sive term  as  technic,  for  it  means  so  much," 
remarked  Germaine  Schnitzer  the  French 
pianist  to  me  one  day,  when  we  were  discussing 
pianistic  problems.  "There  is  no  special  sort 
or  method  of  technic  that  will  do  for  all  play- 
ers, for  every  mentality  is  different;  every 
hand  is  peculiar  to  itself,  and  different  from 
every  other.  Not  only  is  each  player  individ- 
ual in  this  particular,  but  one's  right  hand  may 
differ  from  one's  left ;  therefore  each  hand  may 
require  separate  treatment. 

"An  artistic  technic  can  be  acquired  only  by 
those  who  have  an  aptitude  for  it,  plus  the 
willingness  to  undertake  the  necessary  drudg- 
ery; practise  alone,  no  matter  how  arduous, 
is  not  sufficient.  Technic  is  evolved  from 
thought,  from  hearing  great  music,  from  much 
listening  to  great  players;  intent  listening  to 
one's  own  playing,  and  to  the  effects  one 

215 


216  Piano   Mastery 

strives  to  make.  It  is  often  said  that  the  pian- 
ist cannot  easily  judge  of  the  tonal  effects  he 
is  producing,  as  he  is  too  near  the  instrument. 
With  me  this  is  not  the  case.  My  hearing  is 
so  acute  that  I  know  the  exact  dynamics  of 
every  tone,  every  effect  of  light  and  shade; 
thus  I  do  not  have  to  stand  at  a  distance,  as 
the  painter  does,  even  if  I  could  do  so,  in  order 
to  criticize  my  work,  for  I  can  do  this  satisfac- 
torily at  close  range. 

"I  hardly  know  when  I  learned  technic;  at 
all  events  it  was  not  at  the  beginning.  At  the 
start  I  had  some  lessons  with  quite  a  simple 
woman  teacher.  We  lived  near  Paris,  and  my 
elder  sister  was  then  studying  with  Raoul 
Pugno;  she  was  a  good  student  and  practised 
industriously.  She  said  she  would  take  me  to 
the  master,  and  one  day  she  did  so.  I  was  a 
tiny  child  of  about  seven,  very  small  and  thin 
—not  much  bigger  than  a  fly.  The  great  man 
pretended  he  could  hardly  see  me.  I  was 
perched  upon  the  stool,  my  feet,  too  short  to 
reach  the  floor,  rested  on  the  extension  pedal 
box  which  I  always  carried  around  with  me. 
I  went  bravely  through  some  Bach  Inventions. 
When  I  finished,  Pugno  regarded  me  with  in- 
terest. He  said  he  would  teach  me;  told  me 
to  prepare  some  more  Inventions,  some 


Germaine   Schnitzer  217 

Czerny  studies  and  the  Mendelssohn  Capric- 
cio,  Op.  22,  and  come  to  him  in  four  weeks. 
Needless  to  say,  I  knew  every  note  of  these 
compositions  by  heart  when  I  took  my  second 
lesson.  Soon  I  was  bidden  to  come  to  him 
every  fortnight,  then  every  week,  and  finally 
he  gave  me  two  lessons  a  week. 

"For  the  first  five  years  of  my  musical  ex- 
perience, I  simply  played  the  piano.  I  played 
everything — sonatas,  concertos — everything ; 
large  works  were  absorbed  from  one  lesson  to 
the  next.  When  I  was  about  twelve  I  began 
to  awake  to  the  necessity  for  serious  study; 
then  I  really  began  to  practise  in  earnest. 
My  master  took  more  and  more  interest  in  my 
progress  and  career:  he  was  at  pains  to  ex- 
plain the  meaning  of  music  to  me — the  ideas 
of  the  composers.  Many  fashionable  people 
took  lessons  of  him,  for  to  study  with  Pugno 
had  become  a  fad;  but  he  called  me  his  only 
pupil,  saying  that  I  alone  understood  him.  I 
can  truly  say  he  was  my  musical  father;  to 
him  I  owe  everything.  We  were  neighbors  in 
a  suburb  of  Paris,  as  my  parents'  home  ad- 
joined his;  we  saw  a  great  deal  of  him  and  we 
made  music  together  part  of  every  day. 
When  he  toured  in  America  and  other  coun- 
tries, he  wrote  me  frequently;  I  could  show 


218  Piano   Mastery 

you  many  letters,  for  I  have  preserved  a  large 
number — letters  filled  with  beautiful  and  ex- 
alted thoughts,  expressed  in  noble  and  poetic 
language.  They  show  that  Pugno  possessed 
a  most  refined,  superior  mind,  and  was  truly 
a  great  artist. 

"I  studied  with  Pugno  ten  years.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  wished  me  to  play  for  Emil 
Saur.  Saur  was  delighted  with  my  work,  and 
was  anxious  to  teach  me  certain  points.  From 
him  I  acquired  the  principles  of  touch  advo- 
cated by  his  master,  Nicholas  Rubinstein. 
These  I  mastered  in  three  months'  time,  or  I 
might  say  in  two  lessons. 

"According  to  Nicholas  Rubinstein,  the 
keys  are  not  to  be  struck  with  high  finger  ac- 
tion, nor  is  the  direct  end  of  the  finger  used. 
The  point  of  contact  is  rather  just  back  of  the 
tip,  between  that  and  the  ball  of  the  finger. 
Furthermore  we  do  not  simply  strive  for  plain 
legato  touch.  The  old  instruction  books  tell 
us  that  legato  must  be  learned  first,  and  is  the 
most  difficult  touch  to  acquire.  But  legato 
does  not  bring  the  best  results  in  rapid  pas- 
sages, for  it  does  not  impart  sufficient  clarity. 
In  the  modern  idea  something  more  crisp,  scin- 
tillating and  brilliant  is  needed.  So  we  use  a 
half  staccato  touch.  The  tones,  when  sepa- 


Germaine   Schnitzer  219 

rated  a  hair's  breadth  from  each  other,  take 
on  a  lighter,  more  vibrant,  radiant  quality; 
they  are  really  like  strings  of  pearls.  Then 
I  also  use  pressure  touch,  pressing  and  caress- 
ing the  keys — feeling  as  it  were  for  the  qual- 
ity I  want;  I  think  it,  I  hear  it  mentally,  and 
I  can  make  it.  With  this  manner  of  touching 
the  keys,  and  this  constant  search  for  quality 
of  tone,  I  can  make  any  piano  give  out  a  beau- 
tiful tone,  even  if  it  seems  to  be  only  a  battered 
tin  pan. 

TONE  WHICH  VIBRATES  THROUGH  THE  WHOLE 
BODY 

"Weight  touch  is  of  course  a  necessity;  for 
it  I  use  not  only  arms  and  shoulders,  but  my 
whole  body  feels  and  vibrates  with  the  tones 
of  the  piano.  Of  course  I  have  worked  out 
many  of  these  principles  for  myself;  they  have 
not  been  acquired  from  any  particular  book, 
set  of  exercises,  or  piano  method ;  I  have  made 
my  own  method  from  what  I  have  acquired 
and  experienced  in  ways  above  mentioned. 

ON    MEMORIZING 

"In  regard  to  memorizing  piano  music  I 
have  no  set  method.  The  music  comes  to  me 
I  know  not  how.  After  a  period  of  deep  con- 


220  Piano   Mastery 

centration,  of  intent  listening,  it  is  mine,  a  per- 
manent possession.  You  say  Leschetizky  ad- 
vises his  pupils  to  learn  a  small  portion,  two 
or  four  measures,  each  hand  alone  and  away 
from  the  piano.  Other  pianists  tell  me  they 
have  to  make  a  special  study  of  memorizing. 
All  this  is  not  for  me — it  is  not  my  way. 
When  I  have  studied  the  piece  sufficiently  to 
play  it,  I  know  it — every  note  of  it.  When 
I  play  a  concerto  with  orchestra  I  am  not  only 
absolutely  sure  of  the  piano  part,  but  I  also 
know  each  note  that  the  other  instruments 
play.  Of  course  I  am  listening  intently  to 
the  piano  and  to  the  whole  orchestra  during  a 
performance;  if  I  allowed  myself  to  think  of 
anything  else,  I  should  be  lost.  This  absolute 
concentration  is  what  conquers  all  difficulties. 

ABSTRACT  TECHNIC 

"About  practising  technic  for  itself  alone: 
this  will  not  be  necessary  when  once  the  prin- 
ciples of  technic  are  mastered.  I,  at  least, 
do  not  need  to  do  so.  I  make,  however,  vari- 
ous technical  exercises  out  of  all  difficult  pas- 
sages in  pieces.  I  scarcely  need  to  look  at  the 
printed  pages  of  pieces  I  place  on  my  recital 
programs.  I  have  them  with  me,  to  be  sure, 
but  they  are  seldom  taken  out  of  their  boxes. 


Germaine   Schnitzer  221 

What  I  do  is  to  think  the  pieces  through  and 
do  mental  work  with  them,  and  for  this  I  must 
be  quiet  and  by  myself.  An  hour's  actual 
playing  at  the  piano  each  day  is  sufficient  to 
prepare  for  a  recital. 

"It  must  not  be  thought  that  I  do  not  study 
very  seriously.  I  do  not  work  less  than  six 
hours  a  day ;  if  on  any  day  I  fail  to  secure  this 
amount  of  time,  I  make  it  up  at  the  earliest 
moment.  During  the  summer  months,  when 
I  am  preparing  new  programs  for  the  next 
season,  I  work  very  hard.  As  I  said,  I  take 
the  difficult  passages  of  a  composition  and 
make  the  minutest  study  of  them  in  every  de- 
tail, making  all  kinds  of  technical  exercises  out 
of  a  knotty  section,  sometimes  playing  it  in 
forty  or  fifty  different  ways.  For  example, 
take  the  little  piece  out  of  Schumann's  Car- 
neval,  called  'The  Reconnaissance.'  That 
needed  study.  I  gave  three  solid  days  to  it; 
that  means  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  from  one  to  five  in  the  afternoon. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  I  knew  it  perfectly 
and  was  satisfied  with  it.  From  that  day  to 
this  I  have  never  had  to  give  a  thought  to  that 
number,  for  I  am  confident  I  know  it  utterly. 
I  have  never  had  an  accident  to  that  or  to  any 
of  my  pieces  when  playing  in  public.  In  my 


222  Piano   Mastery 

opinion  a  pianist  has  a  more  difficult  task  to 
accomplish  than  any  other  artist.  The  singer 
has  to  sing  only  one  note  at  a  time ;  the  violin- 
ist or  'cellist  need  use  but  one  hand  for  notes. 
Even  the  orchestral  conductor  who  aspires  to 
direct  his  men  without  the  score  before  him, 
may  experience  a  slip  of  memory  once  in 
awhile,  yet  he  can  go  on  without  a  break.  A 
pianist,  however,  has  perhaps  half  a  dozen 
notes  in  each  hand  to  play  at  once;  every  note 
must  be  indelibly  engraved  on  the  memory,  for 
one  dares  not  make  a  slip  of  any  kind. 

"An  artist  playing  in  London,  Paris  or 
New  York — I  class  these  cities  together — 
may  play  about  the  same  sort  of  programs  in 
each.  The  selections  will  not  be  too  heavy  in 
character.  In  Madrid  or  Vienna  the  works 
may  be  even  more  brilliant.  It  is  Berlin  that 
demands  heavy,  solid  meat.  I  play  Bach 
there,  Beethoven  and  Brahms.  It  is  a  severe 
test  to  play  in  Berlin  and  win  success. 

"I  have  made  several  tours  in  America. 
This  is  a  wonderful  country.  I  don't  believe 
you  Americans  realize  what  a  great  country 
you  have,  what  marvelous  advantages  are  here, 
what  fine  teachers,  what  great  orchestras,  what 
opera,  what  audiences !  The  critics,  too,  are  so 
well  informed  and  so  just.  All  these  things 


Germaine   Schnitzer  223 

impress  a  foreign  artist — the  love  for  music 
that  is  here,  the  knowledge  of  it,  and  the  en- 
thusiasm for  it.  A  worthy  artist  can  make  a 
name  and  success  in  America  more  quickly  and 
surely  than  in  any  country  in  the  world. 

"For  one  thing  America  is  one  united  coun- 
try from  coast  to  coast,  so  it  is  much  easier 
getting  about  here  than  in  Europe.  For  an- 
other thing  I  consider  you  have  the  greatest 
orchestras  in  the  world,  and  I  have  played  with 
the  orchestras  of  all  countries.  I  also  find  you 
have  the  most  enthusiastic  audiences  to  be 
found  anywhere. 

"In  Europe  a  musical  career  offers  few  ad- 
vantages. People  often  ask  my  advice  about 
making  a  career  over  there,  and  I  try  to  dis- 
suade them.  It  sometimes  impresses  me  as  a 
lions'  den,  and  I  have  the  desire  to  cry  out 
'Beware'  to  those  who  may  be  entrapped  into 
going  over  before  they  are  ready,  or  know 
what  to  expect.  Of  course  there  are  cases  of 
phenomenal  success,  but  they  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule. 

"People  go  to  Europe  to  get  atmosphere 
(stimmung) — that  much  abused  term!  I 
could  tell  them  they  make  their  own  atmos- 
phere wherever  they  are.  I  have  lived  in 
music  all  my  life,  but  I  can  say  I  find  musical 


224  Piano   Mastery 

atmosphere  right  here  in  America.  If  I  listen 
to  the  Boston  Symphony  Orchestra,  or  to  the 
Kneisel  Quartet,  when  these  organizations  are 
giving  an  incomparable  performance  of  some 
masterpiece,  I  am  entirely  wrapt  up  in  the 
music;  am  I  not  then  in  a  musical  atmosphere? 
Or  if  I  hear  a  performance  of  a  Wagner  opera 
at  the  Metropolitan,  where  Wagner  is  given 
better  even  than  in  Bayreuth,  am  I  not  also  in 
a  musical  atmosphere?  To  be  sure,  if  I  am 
in  Bayreuth  I  may  see  some  reminiscences  of 
Wagner  the  man,  or  if  I  am  in  Vienna  I  can 
visit  the  graves  of  Beethoven  and  Schubert. 
But  these  facts  of  themselves  do  not  create  a 
musical  atmosphere. 

"You  in  America  can  well  rejoice  over  your 
great  country,  your  fine  teachers  and  musi- 
cians and  your  musical  growth.  After  a  while 
you  may  be  the  most  musical  nation  in  the 
world." 


XXVIII 

OSSIP  GABRILOWITSCH 

CHARACTERISTIC  TOUCH  ON  THE  PIANO 

AKTHUR  HOCHMAN,  Russian  pianist  and 
composer,  once  remarked  to  me,  in  reference 
to  the  quality  of  tone  and  variety  of  tonal  ef- 
fects produced  by  the  various  artists  now  be- 
fore the  public: 

"For  me  there  is  one  pianist  who  stands 
above  them  all — his  name  is  Gabrilowitsch." 

The  quality  of  tone  which  this  rare  artist 
draws  from  his  instrument,  is  unforgettable. 
I  asked  him  one  morning,  when  he  was  kind 
enough  to  give  me  the  opportunity  for  a  quiet 
chat,  how  he  produced  this  luscious  singing 
quality  of  tone. 

"A  beautiful  tone?  Ah,  that  is  difficult  to 
describe,  whether  in  one  hour  or  in  many  hours. 
It  is  first  a  matter  of  experiment,  of  individu- 
ality, then  of  experience  and  memory.  We 
listen  and  create  the  tone,  modify  it  until  it 
expresses  our  ideal,  then  we  try  to  remember 
how  we  did  it. 

225 


226  Piano   Mastery 

"I  cannot  say  that  I  always  produce  a  beau- 
tiful tone;  I  try  to  produce  a  characteristic 
tone,  but  sometimes  it  may  not  be  beautiful: 
there  are  many  times  when  it  may  be  anything 
but  that.  I  do  not  think  there  can  be  any 
fixed  rule  or  method  in  tone  production,  be- 
cause people  and  hands  are  so  different. 
What  does  for  one  will  not  do  for  another. 
Some  players  find  it  easier  to  play  with  high 
wrist,  some  with  low.  Some  can  curve  their 
fingers,  while  others  straighten  them  out. 
There  are  of  course  a  few  foundation  princi- 
ples, and  one  is  that  arms  and  wrists  must  be  re- 
laxed. Fingers  must  often  be  loose  also,  but 
not  at  the  nail  joint;  that  must  always  be  firm. 
I  advise  adopting  the  position  of  hand  which 
is  most  comfortable  and  convenient.  In  fact 
all  forms  of  hand  position  can  be  used,  if  for  a 
right  purpose,  so  long  as  the  condition  is  never 
cramped  or  stiff.  I  permit  either  a  high  or 
low  position  of  the  wrist,  so  long  as  the  tone  is 
good.  As  I  said,  the  nail  joint  must  remain 
firm,  and  never  be  crushed  under  by  the  weight 
of  powerful  chords,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  with 
young  players  whose  hands  are  weak  and  deli- 
cate. 


Ossip    Gabrilowitsch  227 


TECHNICAL   STUDY 

"Yes,  I  am  certainly  in  favor  of  technical 
practise  outside  of  pieces.  There  must  be 
scale  and  arpeggio  study,  in  which  the  metro- 
nome can  be  used.  But  I  believe  in  striving 
to  make  even  technical  exercises  of  musical 
value.  If  scales  are  played  they  should  be 
performed  with  a  beautiful  quality  and  variety 
of  tone;  if  one  attempts  a  Czerny  etude,  it 
should  be  played  with  as  much  care  and  finish 
as  a  Beethoven  sonata.  Bring  out  all  the 
musical  qualities  of  the  etude.  Do  not  say, 
'I'll  play  this  measure  sixteen  times,  and  then 
I'm  done  with  it.'  Do  nothing  for  mechanical 
ends  merely,  but  everything  from  a  musical 
standpoint.  Yes,  I  give  some  Czerny  to  my 
students;  not  many  etudes  however.  I  prefer 
Chopin  and  Rubinstein.  There  is  a  set  of  six 
Rubinstein  Studies  which  I  use,  including  the 
Staccato  ^tude. 

"In  regard  to  technical  forms  and  material, 
each  player  may  need  a  different  tonic.  I 
have  found  many  useful  things  in  a  work  by 
your  own  Dr.  William  Mason,  Touch  and 
Tcchnic.  I  have  used  this  to  a  considerable 
extent.  To  my  knowledge  he  was  the  first  to 
illustrate  the  principle  of  weight,  which  is  now 


228  Piano   Mastery 

pretty  generally  accepted  here  as  well  as  in 
Europe. 

"An  ancient  and  famous  philosopher, 
Seneca,  is  said  to  have  remarked  that  by  the 
time  a  man  reaches  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he 
should  know  enough  to  be  his  own  physician, 
or  he  is  a  fool.  We  might  apply  this  idea  to 
the  pianist.  After  studying  the  piano  for  a 
number  of  years  he  should  be  able  to  discover 
what  sort  of  technical  exercises  are  most  bene- 
ficial; if  he  cannot  do  so  he  must  be  a  fool. 
Why  should  he  always  depend  on  the  exercises 
made  by  others?  There  is  no  end  to  the  list 
of  method  books  and  technical  forms;  their 
name  is  legion.  They  are  usually  made  by 
persons  who  invent  exercises  to  fit  their  own 
hands ;  this  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  they 
will  fit  the  hands  of  others.  I  encourage  my 
pupils  to  invent  their  own  technical  exercises. 
They  have  often  done  so  with  considerable  suc- 
cess, and  find  much  more  pleasure  in  them 
than  in  those  made  by  others. 

"Two  of  the  most  important  principles  in 
piano  playing  are:  full,  round,  exact  tone; 
distinct  phrasing.  The  most  common  fault  is 
indistinctness — slurring  over  or  leaving  out 
notes.  Clearness  in  piano  playing  is  abso- 
lutely essential.  If  an  actor  essays  the  role 


Ossip    Gabrilowitsch  229 

of  Hamlet,  he  must  first  of  all  speak  distinctly 
and  make  himself  clearly  understood;  other- 
wise all  his  study  and  characterization  are  in 
vain.  The  pianist  must  likewise  make  him- 
self understood;  he  therefore  must  enunciate 
clearly. 

VELOCITY 

"You  speak  of  velocity  as  difficult  for  some 
players  to  acquire.  I  have  found  there  is  a 
general  tendency  to  play  everything  too  fast, 
to  rush  headlong  through  the  piece,  without 
taking  time  to  make  it  clear  and  intelligihle. 
When  the  piece  is  quite  clear  in  tone  and 
phrasing,  it  will  not  sound  as  fast  as  it  really 
is,  because  all  the  parts  are  in  just  relation  to 
each  other.  As  an  illustration  of  this  fact, 
there  is  a  little  Gavotte  of  mine,  which  I  had 
occasion  to  play  several  times  in  Paris.  A 
lady,  a  very  good  pianist,  got  the  piece, 
learned  it,  then  came  and  asked  me  to  hear  her 
play  it.  She  sat  down  to  the  piano,  and 
rushed  through  the  piece  in  a  way  that  so  dis- 
torted it  I  could  hardly  recognize  it.  When 
she  finished  I  remonstrated,  but  she  assured 
me  that  her  tempo  was  exactly  like  mine  as 
she  had  heard  me  play  the  piece  three  times. 
I  knew  my  own  tempo  exactly  and  showed  her 


230  Piano   Mastery 

that  while  it  did  not  differ  so  greatly  from 
hers,  yet  my  playing  sounded  slower  because 
notes  and  phrasing  were  all  clear,  and  every- 
thing rightly  balanced. 

POWER 

"How  do  I  gain  power?  Power  does  not 
depend  on  the  size  of  the  hand  or  arm ;  for  per- 
sons of  quite  small  physique  have  enough  of  it 
to  play  with  the  necessary  effect.  Power  is  a 
nervous  force,  and  of  course  demands  that 
arms  and  wrists  be  relaxed.  The  fingers  must 
be  so  trained  as  to  be  strong  enough  to  stand 
up  under  this  weight  of  arms  and  hands,  arid 
not  give  way.  I  repeat,  the  nail  joint  must 
remain  firm  under  all  circumstances.  It  is  so 
easy  to  forget  this;  one  must  be  looking  after 
it  all  the  time. 

MEMORIZING 

"In  regard  to  memorizing,  I  have  no  special 
rule  or  method.  Committing  to  memory 
seems  to  come  of  its  own  accord.  Some  pieces 
are  comparatively  easy  to  learn  by  heart; 
others,  like  a  Bach  fugue,  require  hard  work 
and  close  analysis.  The  surest  way  to  learn  a 
difficult  composition,  is  to  write  it  out  from 
memory.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  benefit  in 


Ossip    Gabrilowitsch  231 

that.  If  you  want  to  remember  the  name  of 
a  person  or  a  place,  you  write  it  down.  When 
the  eye  sees  it,  the  mind  retains  a  much  more 
vivid  impression.  This  is  visual  memory. 
When  I  play  with  orchestra,  I  of  course  know 
every  note  the  orchestra  has  to  play  as  well  as 
my  own  part.  It  is  a  much  greater  task  to 
write  out  a  score  from  memory  than  a  piano 
solo,  yet  it  is  the  surest  way  to  fix  the  compo- 
sition in  mind.  I  find  that  compositions  I 
learned  in  early  days  are  never  forgotten,  they 
are  always  with  me,  while  the  later  pieces  have 
to  be  constantly  looked  after.  This  is  doubt- 
less a  general  experience,  as  early  impressions 
are  most  enduring. 

"An  orchestral  conductor  should  know  the 
works  he  conducts  so  thoroughly  that  he  need 
not  have  the  score  before  him.  I  have  done 
considerable  conducting  the  past  few  years. 
Last  season  I  gave  a  series  of  historical  re- 
citals, tracing  the  growth  of  the  piano  con- 
certo, from  Mozart  down  to  the  present.  I 
played  nineteen  works  in  all,  finishing  with  the 
Rachmaninoff  Concerto." 

Mr.  Gabrilowitsch  has  entirely  given  up 
teaching,  and  devotes  his  time  to  recital  and 
concert,  conducting,  and  composing. 


HANS  VON  BULOW  AS  TEACHER 
AND  INTERPRETER 

THOSE  who  heard  Hans  von  Billow  .in  re- 
cital during  his  American  tour,  in  1876,  lis- 
tened to  piano  playing  that  was  at  once  learned 
and  convincing.  A  few  years  before,  in  1872, 
Rubinstein  had  come  and  conquered.  The 
torrential  splendor  of  his  pianism,  his  mighty 
crescendos  and  whispering  diminuendos,  his 
marvelous  variety  of  tone — all  were  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  revelation;  his  personal  magnetism 
carried  everything  before  it.  American  audi- 
ences were  at  his  feet. 

In  Von  Biilow  was  found  a  player  of  quite 
a  different  caliber.  Clarity  of  touch,  careful 
exactness  down  to  the  minutest  detail  caused 
the  critics  to  call  him  cold.  He  was  a  deep 
thinker  and  analyzer;  as  he  played  one  saw,  as 
though  reflected  in  a  mirror,  each  note,  phrase 
and  dynamic  mark  of  expression  to  be  found 
in  the  work.  From  a  Rubinstein  recital  the 
listener  came  away  subdued,  awed,  inspired, 
uplifted,  but  disinclined  to  open  the  piano  or 
touch  the  keys  that  had  been  made  to  burn  and 

232 


HANS  vo\    Ilri.mv 


Hans   von   Billow  233 

scintillate  under  those  wonderful  hands. 
After  hearing  Von  Billow,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  impulse  was  to  hasten  to  the  instrument 
and  reproduce  what  had  just  seemed  so  clear 
and  logical,  so  simple  and  attainable.  It  did 
not  seem  to  be  such  a  difficult  thing  to  play 
the  piano — like  that!  It  was  as  though  he  had 
said:  "Any  of  you  can  do  what  I  am  doing, 
if  you  will  give  the  same  amount  of  time  and 
study  to  it  that  I  have  done.  Listen  and  I 
will  teach  you!" 

Von  Billow  was  a  profound  student  of  the 
works  of  Beethoven;  his  edition  of  the  sonatas 
is  noted  for  recondite  learning,  clearness  and 
exactness  in  the  smallest  details.  Through  his 
recitals  in  America  he  did  much  to  make  these 
works  better  known  and  understood.  Nor 
did  he  neglect  Chopin,  and  though  his  readings 
of  the  music  of  the  great  Pole  may  have  lacked 
in  sensuous  beauty  of  touch  and  tone,  their  in- 
terpretation was  always  sane,  healthy,  and 
beautiful. 

Toward  the  end  of  a  season  during  the 
eighties,  it  was  announced  that  Von  Biilow 
would  come  to  Berlin  and  teach  an  artist  class 
in  the  Klindworth  Conservatory.  This  was  an 
unusual  opportunity  to  obtain  lessons  from  so 
famous  a  musician  and  pedagogue,  and  about 


234  Piano    Mastery 

twenty  pianists  were  enrolled  for  the  class.  A 
few  of  these  came  with  the  master  from  Frank- 
fort, where  he  was  then  located. 

Carl  Klindworth,  pianist,  teacher,  critic, 
editor  of  Chopin  and  Beethoven,  was  then  the 
Director  of  the  school.  The  two  men  were 
close  friends,  which  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
Von  Billow  was  willing  to  recommend  the 
Klindworth  Edition  of  Beethoven,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  he  himself  had  edited  many  of 
the  sonatas.  Another  proof  is  that  he  was 
ready  to  leave  his  work  in  Frankfort,  and  come 
to  Berlin,  in  order  to  shed  the  luster  of  his 
name  and  fame  upon  the  Klindworth  school— 
the  youngest  of  the  many  musical  institutions 
of  that  music-ridden,  music-saturated  capital. 

It  was  a  bright  May  morning  when  the 
Director  entered  the  music-room  with  his 
guest,  and  presented  him  to  the  class.  They 
saw  in  him  a  man  rather  below  medium  height, 
with  large  intellectual  head,  beneath  whose 
high,  wide  forehead  shone  piercing  dark  eyes, 
hidden  behind  glasses. 

He  bowed  to  the  class,  saying  he  was  pleased 
to  see  so  many  industrious  students.  His 
movements,  as  he  looked  around  the  room, 
were  quick  and  alert;  he  seemed  to  see  every- 


Hans    von   Billow  235 

thing  at  once,  and  the  students  saw  that  noth- 
ing could  escape  that  active  mentality. 

The  class  met  four  days  in  each  week,  and 
the  lessons  continued  from  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing until  well  on  toward  one  o'clock.  It  was 
announced  that  only  the  works  of  Brahms, 
Raff,  Mendelssohn  and  Liszt  would  be  taught 
and  played,  so  nothing  else  need  be  brought  to 
the  class ;  indeed  Brahms  was  to  have  the  place 
of  honor. 

While  many  interesting  compositions  were 
discussed  and  played,  perhaps  the  most  help- 
ful thing  about  these  hours  spent  with  the 
great  pedagogue  was  the  running  fire  of  com- 
ment and  suggestion  regarding  technic,  inter- 
pretation, and  music  and  musicians  in  general. 
Von  Biilow  spoke  in  rapid,  nervous  fashion, 
with  a  mixture  of  German  and  English,  often 
repeating  in  the  latter  tongue  what  he  had  said 
in  the  former,  out  of  consideration  for  the 
Americans  and  English  present. 

In  teaching,  Von  Biilow  required  the  same 
qualities  which  were  so  patent  in  his  playing. 
Clearness  of  touch,  exactness  in  phrasing  and 
fingering  were  the  first  requirements;  the  de- 
livery of  the  composer's  idea  must  be  just  as 
he  had  indicated  it — no  liberties  with  the  text 
were  ever  permitted.  He  was  so  honest,  so 


236  Piano   Mastery 

upright  in  his  attitude  toward  the  makers  of 
good  music,  that  it  was  a  sin  in  his  eyes  to 
alter  anything  in  the  score,  though  he  believed 
in  adding  any  marks  of  phrasing  or  expres- 
sion which  would  elucidate  the  intentions  of 
the  composer.  Everything  he  said  or  did 
showed  his  intellectual  grasp  of  the  subject; 
and  he  looked  for  some  of  the  same  sort  of 
intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  student.  A 
failure  in  this  respect,  an  inability  to  appre- 
hend at  once  the  ideas  he  endeavored  to  con- 
vey, would  annoy  the  sensitive  and  nervous 
little  Doctor;  he  would  become  impatient,  sar- 
castic and  begin  to  pace  the  floor  with  hasty 
strides.  When  in  this  state  he  could  see  little 
that  was  worthy  in  the  student's  performance, 
for  a  small  error  would  be  so  magnified  as  to 
dwarf  everything  that  was  excellent.  When 
the  lion  began  to  roar,  it  behooved  the  players 
to  be  circumspect  and  meek.  At  other  times, 
when  the  weather  was  fair  in  the  class-room, 
things  went  with  tolerable  smoothness.  He 
did  not  trouble  himself  much  about  technic,  as 
of  course  a  pupil  coming  to  him  was  expected 
to  be  well  equipped  on  the  technical  side;  his 
chief  concern  was  to  make  clear  the  content 
and  interpretation  of  the  composition.  In  the 
lessons  he  often  played  detached  phrases  and 


Hans    von   Billow  237 

passages  for  and  with  the  student,  but  never 
played  an  entire  composition. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about 
this  eccentric  man  was  his  prodigious  memory. 
Nearly  every  work  for  piano  which  could  be 
mentioned  he  knew  and  could  play  from  mem- 
ory. He  often  expressed  the  opinion  that  no 
pianist  could  be  considered  an  artist  unless  he 
or  she  could  play  at  least  two  hundred  pieces 
by  heart.  He,  of  course,  more  than  fulfilled 
this  requirement,  not  only  for  piano  but  for 
orchestral  music.  As  conductor  of  the  famous 
Meiningen  orchestra,  he  directed  every  work 
given  without  a  note  of  score  before  him — con- 
sidered a  great  feat  in  those  days.  He  was 
a  ceaseless  worker,  and  his  eminence  in  the 
world  of  music  was  more  largely  due  to  unre- 
mitting labor  than  to  genius. 

From  the  many  suggestions  to  the  Berlin 
class,  the  following  have  been  culled. 

"To  play  correctly  is  of  the  first  importance; 
to  play  beautifully  is  the  second  requirement. 
A  healthy  touch  is  the  main  thing.  Some 
people  play  the  piano  as  if  their  fingers  had 
migranc  and  their  wrists  were  rheumatic.  Do 
not  play  on  the  sides  of  the  finger  nor  with  a 
sideways  stroke,  for  then  the  touch  will  be 
weak  and  uncertain. 


238  Piano   Mastery 

"Clearness  we  must  first  have;  every  line 
and  measure,  every  note  must  be  analyzed  for 
touch,  tone,  content  and  expression. 

"You  are  always  your  first  hearer;  to  be 
one's  own  critic  is  the  most  difficult  of  all. 

"When  a  new  theme  enters  you  must  make 
it  plain  to  the  listener;  all  the  features  of  the 
new  theme,  the  new  figure,  must  be  plastically 
brought  out. 

"Brilliancy  does  not  depend  on  velocity  but 
on  clarity.  What  is  not  clear  cannot  scintil- 
late nor  sparkle.  Make  use  of  your  strongest 
fingers  in  brilliant  passages,  leaving  out  the 
fourth  when  possible.  A  scale  to  be  brilliant 
and  powerful  must  not  be  too  rapid.  Every 
note  must  be  round  and  full  and  not  too  legato 
—rather  a  mezzo  legato — so  that  single  tones, 
played  hands  together,  shall  sound  like  oc- 
taves. One  of  the  most  difficult  things  in 
rhythm,  is  to  play  passages  where  two  notes 
alternate  with  triplets.  Scales  may  be  prac- 
tised in  this  way  alternating  three  notes  with 
two. 

"We  must  make  things  sound  well — agree- 
ably, in  a  way  to  be  admired.  A  seemingly 
discordant  passage  can  be  made  to  sound  well 
by  ingeniously  seeking  out  the  best  that  is  in 
it  and  holding  that  up  in  the  most  favorable 


Hans    von   Billow  239 

light.  Practise  dissonant  chords  until  they 
please  the  ear  in  spite  of  their  sharpness. 
Think  of  the  instruments  of  the  orchestra  and 
their  different  qualities  of  tone,  and  try  to 
imitate  them  on  the  piano.  Think  of  every 
octave  on  the  piano  as  having  a  different  color; 
then  shade  and  color  your  playing.  (Also 
bitte  coloriren!)" 

If  Billow's  musical  trinity,  Bach,  Beetho- 
ven, and  Brahms,  had  a  fourth  divinity  added, 
it  would  surely  have  been  Liszt.  The  first 
day's  program  contained  chiefly  works  by  the 
Hungarian  master;  among  them  Au  bord 
d'une  Source,  Scherzo  and  March,  and  the 
Ballades.  The  player  who  rendered  the 
Scherzo  was  advised  to  practise  octaves  with 
light,  flexible  wrist;  the  Kullak  Octave  School 
was  recommended,  especially  the  third  book; 
the  other  books  could  be  read  through,  prac- 
tising whatever  seemed  difficult  and  passing 
over  what  was  easy.  Of  the  Ballades  the  first 
was  termed  more  popular,  the  second  finer  and 
more  earnest — though  neither  makes  very 
much  noise. 

The  Annces  dc  Pclerinage  received  much 
attention.  Among  the  pieces  played  were, 
Les  Cloches,  Chaftse  Ncigc,  Eclogue,  Cloches 
dc  Geneva,  Eroica,  Feux  Follets  and  Ma- 


240  Piano   Mastery 

zeppa.  Also  the  big  Polonaise  in  E,  the  two 
Etudes,  W aldesrauschen  and  Gnomenreigen; 
the  Mazourka,  Valse  Impromptu,  and  the  first 
£tude,  of  which  last  he  remarked:  "You  can 
all  play  this;  thirty  years  have  passed  since 
it  was  composed  and  people  are  only  just  find- 
ing out  how  fine  it  is.  Such  is  the  case  with 
many  of  Liszt's  works.  We  wonder  how  they 
ever  could  have  been  considered  unmusical. 
Yet  the  way  some  people  play  Liszt  the  hearer 
is  forced  to  exclaim,  'What  an  unmusical  fel- 
low Liszt  was,  to  be  sure,  to  write  like  that !' 

"Exactness  in  everything  is  of  the  greatest 
importance,"  he  was  fond  of  saying.  "We 
must  make  the  piano  speak.  As  in  speaking 
we  use  a  separate  movement  of  the  lips  for 
each  word,  so  in  certain  kinds  of  melody  play- 
ing, the  hand  is  taken  up  after  each  note. 
Then,  too,  we  cannot  make  the  piano  speak 
without  very  careful  use  of  the  pedals." 

The  Mazourka  of  Liszt  was  recommended 
as  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  his  lighter 
pieces.  The  W aldesrauschen  also,  was 
termed  charming,  an  excellent  concert  num- 
ber. "Begin  the  first  figure  somewhat  louder 
and  slightly  slower,  then  increase  the  move- 
ment and  subdue  the  tone.  Everything  which 


Hans    von    Billow  241 

is  to  be  played  softly  should  be  practised 
forte/' 

Of  Joachim  Raff  the  Suite  Op.  91  held  the 
most  important  place.  Each  number  received 
minute  attention,  the  Giga  being  played  by 
Ethelbert  Nevin.  The  Metamorphosen  re- 
ceived a  hearing,  also  the  Valse  Caprice,  Op. 
116,  of  which  the  master  was  particular  about 
the  staccato  left  hand  against  the  legato  right. 
Then  came  the  Scherzo  Op.  74,  the  Valse  Ca- 
price and  the  Polka,  from  Suite  Op.  71.  Von 
Billow  described  the  little  group  of  notes  in 
left  hand  of  middle  section  as  a  place  where 
the  dancers  made  an  unexpected  slip  on  the 
floor,  and  suggested  it  be  somewhat  empha- 
sized. "We  must  make  this  little  witticism," 
he  said,  as  he  illustrated  the  passage  at  the 
piano. 

"Raff  showed  himself  a  pupil  of  Mendels- 
sohn in  his  earlier  compositions;  his  sympho- 
nies will  find  more  appreciation  in  the  coming 
century — which  cannot  be  said  of  the  Ocean 
Symphony,  for  instance." 

Of  Mendelssohn  the  Capriccios  Op.  5  and  22 
were  played,  also  the  Prelude  and  Fugue  in 
E.  Von  Billow  deplored  the  neglect  which 
was  overtaking  the  works  of  Mendelssohn, 


242  Piano   Mastery 

and  spoke  of  the  many  beauties  of  his  piano 
compositions.  "There  should  be  no  sentimen- 
tality about  the  playing  of  Mendelssohn's 
music,"  he  said;  "the  notes  speak  for  them- 
selves. 

"The  return  to  a  theme,  in  every  song  or 
instrumental  work  of  his  is  particularly  to  be 
noticed,  for  it  is  always  interesting ;  this  Fugue 
in  E  should  begin  as  though  with  the  softest 
register  of  the  organ." 

The  subject  of  Brahms  has  been  deferred 
only  that  it  may  be  spoken  of  as  a  whole.  His 
music  was  the  theme  of  the  second,  and  a  num- 
ber of  the  following  lessons.  Billow  was  a 
close  friend  of  the  Hamburg  master,  and  kept 
in  touch  with  him  while  in  Berlin.  One  morn- 
ing he  came  in  with  a  beaming  face,  holding 
up  a  sheet  of  music  paper  in  Beethoven's  hand- 
writing, which  Brahms  had  discovered  and  for- 
warded to  him.  It  seemed  that  nothing  could 
have  given  Biilow  greater  pleasure  than  to  re- 
ceive this  relic. 

The  first  work  taken  up  in  class  was 
Brahms'  Variations  on  a  Handel  theme.  Von 
Biilow  was  in  perfect  sympathy  with  this 
noble  work  of  Brahms  and  illumined  many 
passages  with  clear  explanations.  He  was 
very  exact  about  the  phrasing.  "What  can- 


I)».  \VII.MAM  MASON 


Hans   von   Billow  243 

not  be  sung  in  one  breath  cannot  be  played 
in  one  breath,"  he  said;  "many  composers 
have  their  own  terms  for  expression  and  in- 
terpretation; Brahms  is  very  exact  in  these 
points — next  to  him  comes  Mendelssohn. 
Beethoven  not  at  all  careful  about  markings 
and  Schumann  extremely  careless.  Brahms, 
Beethoven,  and  Wagner  have  the  right  to  use 
their  own  terms.  Brahms  frequently  uses  the 
word  sostenuto  where  others  would  use  ritar- 
dando." 

Of  the  Clavier  Stiicke,  Op.  76,  Von  Billow 
said:  "The  Capriccio,  No.  1  must  not  be 
taken  too  fast.  First  page  is  merely  a  pre- 
lude, the  story  begins  at  the  second  page. 
How  wonderfully  is  this  melody  formed,  so 
original  yet  so  regular.  Compare  it  with  a 
Bach  gigue.  Remember,  andante  does  not 
mean  dragging  (schleppando) ,  it  means  go- 
ing (gehend)."  To  the  player  who  gave  the 
Capriccio,  No.  5  he  said:  "You  play  that  as 
if  it  were  a  Tarantelle  of  Stephan  Heller's. 
Agitation  in  piano  playing  must  be  carefully 
thought  out;  the  natural  sort  will  not  do  at 
all.  We  do  not  want  blind  agitation,  but  see- 
ing agitation  (aufregung) .  A  diminuendo  of 
several  measures  should  be  divided  into  sta- 
tions, one  each  for  F,  MF,  M,  P,  and  PP. 


244  Piano   Mastery 

Visit  the  Zoological  Gardens,  where  you  can 
learn  much  about  legato  and  staccato  from  the 
kangaroos." 

The  Ballades  were  taken  up  in  these  lessons, 
and  the  light  thrown  upon  their  poetical  con- 
tent was  often  a  revelation.  The  gloomy 
character  of  the  Edward  Ballade,  Op.  10,  No. 
1,  the  source  of  the  Scottish  poem,  the  poetic 
story,  were  dwelt  upon.  The  opening  of  this 
first  Ballade  is  sad,  sinister  and  mysterious, 
like  the  old  Scotch  story.  The  master  insisted 
on  great  smoothness  in  playing  it — the  chords 
to  sound  like  muffled  but  throbbing  heart- 
beats. A  strong  climax  is  worked  up  on  the 
second  page,  which  dies  away  on  the  third  to 
a  pianissimo  of  utter  despair.  From  the  mid- 
dle of  this  page  on  to  the  end,  the  descending 
chords  and  octaves  were  likened  to  ghostly 
footsteps,  while  the  broken  triplets  in  the  left 
hand  accompaniment  seem  to  indicate  drops  of 
blood. 

The  third  Ballade  also  received  an  illumina- 
tion from  Von  Billow.  This  is  a  vivid  tone 
picture,  though  without  motto  or  verse. 
Starting  with  those  fateful  fifths  in  the  bass, 
it  moves  over  two  pages  fitfully  gloomy  and 
gay,  till  at  the  end  of  the  second  page  a  de- 
scending passage  leads  to  three  chords  so  full 


Hans    von   Billow  245 

of  grim  despair  as  to  impart  the  atmosphere 
of  a  dungeon.  The  player  was  hastily  turn- 
ing the  leaf.  "Stop!"  cried  the  excited  voice 
of  the  master,  who  had  been  pacing  restlessly 
up  and  down,  and  now  hurried  from  the  end 
of  the  salon.  "Wait!  We  have  been  in 
prison — but  now  a  ray  of  sunshine  pierces  the 
darkness.  You  must  always  pause  here  to 
make  the  contrast  more  impressive.  There  is 
more  music  in  this  little  piece  than  in  whole 
symphonies  by  some  of  the  modern  com- 
posers." 

Both  Rhapsodies  Op.  79  were  played;  the 
second,  he  said,  has  parts  as  passionate  as  any- 
thing in  the  Gottcrdammerung.  Both  are 
fine  and  interesting  works. 

Again  and  again  the  players  were  coun- 
seled to  make  everything  sound  well.  Some 
intervals,  fourths  for  instance,  are  harsh ;  make 
them  as  mild  as  possible.  For  one  can  play 
correctly,  but  horribly!  Some  staccatos  should 
be  shaken  out  of  the  sleeve  as  it  were. 

The  first  time  a  great  work  is  heard  there 
is  so  much  to  occupy  the  attention  that  only 
a  small  amount  of  pleasure  can  be  derived 
from  it.  At  the  second  hearing  things  are 
easier  and  by  the  twelfth  time  one's  pleasure 
is  complete.  The  pianist  must  consider  the 


246  Piano   Mastery 

listener  in  a  first  rendering,  and  endeavor  to 
soften  the  sharp  discords. 

With  a  group  of  five  notes,  play  two  and 
then  three — it  sounds  more  distinguished. 
Remember  that  unlearning  gives  much  more 
trouble  than  learning. 

In  this  brief  resume  of  the  Von  Billow  les- 
sons, the  desire  has  been  to  convey  some  of 
the  hints  and  remarks  concerning  the  music 
and  its  interpretation.  The  master's  fleeting 
sentences  were  hurriedly  jotted  down  during 
the  lessons,  with  no  thought  of  their  ever  be- 
ing seen  except  by  the  owner.  But  as  Billow's 
fame  as  a  teacher  became  so  great,  these  brief 
notes  may  now  be  of  some  value  to  both 
teacher  and  student. 

If  it  were  only  possible  to  create  a  picture  of 
that  Berlin  music-room,  with  its  long  windows 
opening  out  to  a  green  garden — the  May  sun- 
shine streaming  in;  the  two  grand  pianos  in 
the  center,  a  row  of  anxious,  absorbed  students 
about  the  edge  of  the  room — and  the  short 
figure  of  the  little  Doctor,  pacing  up  and  down 
the  polished  floor,  or  seating  himself  at  one 
piano  now  and  then,  to  illustrate  his  instruc- 
tion. This  mental  picture  is  the  lifelong  pos- 
session of  each  of  those  players  who  were  so 


Hans   von   Billow  247 

fortunate  as  to  be  present  at  the  sessions.  It 
can  safely  be  affirmed,  I  think,  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  artistic  rectitude,  of  exactness  and 
thorough  musicianship  which  were  there  in- 
culcated, ever  remained  with  the  members  of 
that  class,  as  a  constant  incentive  and  inspira- 
tion. 


HINTS  ON  INTERPRETATION 

FROM  TWO  AMERICAN 

TEACHERS 

WILLIAM  H.  SHERWOOD  AND  DR.  WILLIAM 
MASON 

WILLIAM  H.  SHERWOOD 

WHILE  a  young  student  the  opportunity 
came  to  attend  a  Summer  Music  School, 
founded  by  this  eminent  pianist  and  teacher. 
He  had  surrounded  himself  with  others  well 
known  for  their  specialties  in  voice,  violin  and 
diction;  but  the  director  himself  was  the  mag- 
net who  attracted  pianists  and  teachers  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  land. 

Perhaps  the  most  intimate  way  to  come  in 
touch  with  a  famous  teacher,  is  to  study  with 
him  during  the  summer  months,  in  some  quiet, 
retired  spot.  Here  the  stress  of  the  metrop- 
olis, with  its  rush  and  drive,  its  exacting 
hours,  its  remorseless  round  of  lesson  giving, 
is  exchanged  for  the  freedom  of  rural  life. 
Hours  may  still  be  exact,  but  a  part  of  each 
day,  or  of  each  week,  is  given  over  to  relaxa- 

248 


Hints    on   Interpretation         249 

tion,  to  be  spent  in  the  open,  with  friends  and 
pupils. 

It  was  under  such  conditions  that  I  first  met 
Mr.  Sherwood.  I  had  never  even  heard  him 
play,  and  was  glad  the  session  opened  with 
a  piano  recital.  His  playing  delighted  me ;  he 
had  both  power  and  delicacy,  and  his  tone  im- 
pressed me  as  being  especially  mellow  and 
fine.  There  was  deep  feeling  as  well  as  poetry 
in  his  reading  of  both  the  Chromatic  Fan- 
taisie  of  Bach,  and  the  Chopin  Fantaisie  in 
F  minor  which  were  on  the  program.  This 
opinion  was  strengthened  at  each  subsequent 
hearing,  for  he  gave  frequent  recitals  and  con- 
certs during  the  season. 

My  summer  study  with  Mr.  Sherwood  con- 
sisted mainly  in  gaining  ideas  on  the  interpre- 
tation of  various  pieces.  Many  of  these  ideas 
seem  to  me  beautiful  and  inspiring,  and  I  will 
set  them  down  as  fully  as  I  can  from  the  brief 
notes  jotted  down  at  the  time.  I  trust  I  may 
be  pardoned  a  few  personal  references,  which 
are  sometimes  necessary  to  explain  the  situa- 
tion. 

With  advanced  students  Mr.  Sherwood 
gave  great  attention  to  tone  study  and  inter- 
pretation, even  from  the  first  lesson.  lie 
laid  much  stress  on  the  use  of  slow,  gentle 


250  Piano   Mastery 

motions  in  practise  and  in  playing;  on  the 
spiritualization  of  the  tones,  of  getting  behind 
the  notes  to  find  the  composer's  meaning.  He 
had,  perhaps,  a  more  poetic  conception  of 
piano  playing  than  any  master  I  have  known, 
and  was  able  to  impart  these  ideas  in  clear 
and  simple  language. 

The  first  composition  considered  was  Schu- 
mann's Nachtstiick,  the  fourth  of  the  set.  He 
had  a  peculiar  way  of  turning  the  hand  on  the 
middle  finger,  as  on  a  pivot,  for  the  extended 
chords,  at  the  same  time  raising  the  whole 
outer  side  of  the  hand,  so  that  the  fifth  finger 
should  be  able  to  play  the  upper  melody  notes 
round  and  full.  In  the  middle  section  he  de- 
sired great  tenderness  and  sweetness  of  tone. 
"There  are  several  dissonances  in  this  part," 
he  said,  "and  they  ought  to  be  somewhat  ac- 
cented— suspensions  I  might  call  them.  In 
Bach  and  Handel's  time,  the  rules  of  composi- 
tion were  very  strict — no  suspensions  were  al- 
lowed ;  so  they  were  indicated  where  it  was  not 
permitted  to  write  them." 

Chopin's  etude  in  sixths  came  up  for  analy- 
sis. "This  study  needs  a  very  easy,  quiet, 
limpid  touch — the  motions  all  gliding  and  slid- 
ing rather  than  pushing  and  forceful.  I 
would  advise  playing  it  at  first  pianissimo; 


Hints   on   Interpretation        251 

the  wrist  held  rather  low,  the  knuckles  some- 
what high,  and  the  fingers  straightened.  In 
preparation  for  each  pair  of  notes  raise  the 
fingers  and  let  them  down — not  with  a  hard 
brittle  touch,  if  I  may  use  the  word,  but  with 
a  soft,  velvety  one.  A  composition  like  this 
needs  to  be  idealized,  spiritualized,  taken  out 
of  everyday  life.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
Impromptu  Op.  36,  Chopin;  the  first  part  of 
it  is  something  like  this  etude,  soft,  undulat- 
ing— smooth  as  oil.  There  is  something  very 
uncommon,  spiritual,  heavenly,  about  the  first 
page  of  that  Impromptu — very  little  of  the 
earth,  earthy.  The  second  page  is  in  sharp 
contrast  to  the  first,  it  comes  right  down  to  the 
hard,  everyday  business  of  life — it  is  full  of 
harsh,  sharp  tones.  Well,  the  idea  of  that 
first  page  we  get  in  this  study  in  sixths.  I 
don't  want  the  bare  tones  that  stand  there  on 
the  printed  page;  I  want  them  spiritualized— 
that  is  what  reveals  the  artist.  In  the  left 
hand  the  first  note  should  have  a  clear,  brittle 
accent,  with  firm  fifth  finger,  and  the  double 
sixths  played  with  the  creeping,  clinging  move- 
ment I  have  indicated.  If  I  should  practise 
this  etude  for  half  an  hour,  you  might  be  sur- 
prised at  the  effects  I  could  produce.  Per- 
haps it  might  take  ten  hours,  but  in  the  end  I 


252  Piano   Mastery 

am  confident  I  could  produce  this  floating,  un- 
dulating effect.  I  heard  Liszt  play  nearly  all 
these  etudes  at  one  time;  I  stood  by  and 
turned  the  pages.  In  this  etude  he  doubled 
the  number  of  sixths  in  each  measure;  the  ef- 
fect was  wonderful  and  beautiful. 

"The  Chopin  Octave  study,  number  22, 
needs  firm,  quiet  touch,  elevating  the  wrist  for 
black  keys  (as  Kullak  explains)  and  depress- 
ing it  for  white  keys.  The  hand  must  be 
well  arched,  the  end  fingers  firm  and  strong, 
and  the  touch  very  pressing,  clinging,  and 
grasping.  You  always  want  to  cling  when- 
ever there  is  any  chance  for  clinging  in  piano 
playing.  The  second  part  of  this  etude 
should  have  a  soft,  flowing,  poetic  touch  in  the 
right  hand,  while  the  left  hand  part  is  well 
brought  out.  The  thumb  needs  a  special 
training  to  enable  it  to  creep  and  slide  from 
one  key  to  another  with  snake-like  movements. 

"Rubinstein's  Barcarolle  in  G  major.  The 
thirds  on  the  first  page  are  very  soft  and 
gentle.  I  make  a  good  deal  of  extra  motion 
with  these  thirds,  raising  the  fingers  quite  high 
and  letting  them  fall  gently  on  the  keys.  The 
idea  of  the  first  page  of  this  barcarolle  is  one 
of  utter  quietness,  colorlessness ;  one  is  alone 
on  the  water;  the  evening  is  quiet  and  still; 


Hints   on   Interpretation        253 

not  a  sound  breaks  the  hushed  silence.  The 
delicate  tracery  of  thirds  should  be  very  soft, 
thin — like  an  airy  cloud.  The  left  hand  is  soft 
too,  but  the  first  beat  should  be  slightly  ac- 
cented, the  second  not;  the  first  is  positive,  the 
second  negative.  Herein  lies  the  idea  of  the 
barcarolle,  the  ebb  and  flow,  the  undulation  of 
each  measure. 

"Begin  the  first  measure  very  softly,  the 
second  measure  a  trifle  louder,  the  third  louder 
still,  the  fourth  falling  off  again.  As  you 
stand  on  the  shore  and  watch  the  great  waves 
coming  in,  you  see  some  that  are  higher  and 
larger  than  others;  so  it  is  here.  The  con- 
cluding passage  in  sixths  should  diminish- 
like  a  little  puff  of  vapor  that  ends  in — noth- 
ing. On  the  second  page  we  come  upon  some- 
thing more  positive;  here  is  a  tangible  voice 
speaking  to  us.  The  melody  should  stand  out 
clear,  broad,  beautiful;  the  accompanying 
chords  should  preserve  the  same  ebb  and  flow, 
the  advancing  and  receding  wave-like  move- 
ment. The  exaggerated  movement  I  spoke  of 
a  moment  ago,  I  use  in  many  ways.  Any 
one  can  hit  the  piano,  with  a  sharp,  incisive 
touch;  but  what  I  refer  to  is  the  reaching  out 
of  the  fingers  for  the  notes,  the  passing  of  the 
hand  in  the  air  and  the  final  gentle  fall  on 


254  Piano   Mastery 

the  key,  not  in  haste  to  get  there,  but  with  con- 
fidence of  reaching  the  key  in  time.  If  you 
throw  a  stone  up  in  the  air  it  will  presently 
fall  back  again  with  a  sharp  thud ;  a  bird  rising, 
hovers  a  moment  and  descends  gently.  This 
barcarolle  is  not  at  all  easy;  there  is  plenty  of 
work  in  it  for  flexible  hands;  it  is  a  study  in 
pianissimo — in  power  controlled,  held  back, 
restrained." 

Taking  up  the  Toccatina  of  Rheinberger, 
Mr.  Sherwood  said:  "I  like  this  piece,  there  is 
good  honest  work  in  it ;  it  is  very  effective,  and 
most  excellent  practise.  You  ought  to  play 
this  every  day  of  the  year.  It  is  written  in 
twelve-eighths,  which  give  four  beats  to  the 
measure,  but  I  think  that  gives  it  too  hard  and 
square  a  character.  I  would  divide  each 
measure  into  two  parts  and  slightly  accent 
each.  Though  your  temperament  is  more  at 
home  in  the  music  of  Chopin  and  Schumann, 
I  recommend  especially  music  of  this  sort,  and 
also  the  music  of  Bach;  these  give  solidity  and 
strength  to  your  conception  of  musical  ideas." 

We  went  through  the  Raff  Suite,  Op.  94. 
"The  Preludio  is  very  good,"  he  said;  "I  like 
it.  The  Menuetto  is,  musically,  the  least 
strong  of  any  of  the  numbers,  but  it  has  a  cer- 
tain elegance,  and  is  the  most  popular  of  them 


Hints   on   Interpretation        255 

all.  The  Romanza  is  a  great  favorite  of  mine, 
it  is  very  graceful,  flowing  and  melodious. 
The  concluding  Fugue  is  a  fine  number;  you 
see  how  the  theme  is  carried  from  one  hand  to 
the  other,  all  twisted  about,  in  a  way  old  Bach 
and  Handel  never  thought  of  doing.  I  con- 
sider this  Raff  fugue  one  of  the  best  examples 
of  modern  fugue  writing." 

Mr.  Sherwood  was  fond  of  giving  students 
the  Josef  Wieniawski  Valse,  for  brilliancy. 
"There  are  many  fine  effects  which  can  be 
made  in  this  piece;  one  can  take  liberties  with 
it — the  more  imagination  you  have  the  better 
it  will  go.  I  might  call  it  a  stylish  piece ;  take 
the  Prelude  as  capriciously  as  you  like ;  put  all 
the  effect  you  can  into  it.  The  Valse  proper 
begins  in  a  very  pompous  style,  with  right 
hand  very  staccato;  all  is  exceelingly  coquet- 
tish. On  the  fifth  page  you  see  it  is  marked 
amoroso,  but  after  eight  measures  the  young 
man  gives  the  whole  thing  away  to  his  father! 
The  beginning  of  the  sixth  page  is  very  piano 
and  light — it  is  nothing  more  than  a  breath 
of  smoke,  an  airy  nothing.  But  at  the  poco 
piu  lento,  there  is  an  undercurrent  of  reality; 
the  two  parts  are  going  at  the  same  time — the 
hard,  earthly  part,  with  accents,  and  the  spir- 
itual, thin  as  air.  To  realize  these  qualities 


256  Piano   Mastery 

in  playing  is  the  very  idealization  of  technic." 
The  Chopin-Liszt  Maiden's  Wish,  was  next 
considered.  "The  theme  here  is  often  over- 
laid and  encrusted  with  the  delicate  lace-like 
arabesques  that  seek  to  hide  it;  but  it  must  be 
found  and  brought  out.  There  is  so  much  in 
being  able  to  find  what  is  hidden  behind  the 
notes.  You  must  get  an  insight  into  the  inner 
idea;  must  feel  it.  This  is  not  technic,  not 
method  even;  it  is  the  spiritualization  of  play- 
ing. There  are  pieces  that  will  sound  well  if 
the  notes  only  are  played,  like  the  little  F 
minor  Moment  Musicale  of  Schubert ;  yet  even 
in  this  there  is  much  behind  the  notes,  which, 
if  brought  out,  will  make  quite  another  thing 
of  the  piece. 

"Schumann's  Andante,  for  two  pianos, 
should  have  a  very  tender,  caressing  touch  for 
the  theme.  The  place  where  the  four-six- 
teenths occur,  which  make  rather  a  square  ef- 
fect, can  be  softened  down.  On  the  second 
page,  be  sure  and  do  not  accent  the  grace 
notes;  let  the  accent  come  on  the  fifth  finger 
every  time.  For  the  variation  containing 
chords,  use  the  grasping  touch,  which  might  be 
described  as  a  certain  indrawing  of  force  in 
the  end  of  the  ringer,  as  though  taking  a  long 
breath.  The  variation  in  triplets  seems  at 


Hints   on   Interpretation        257 

first  sight  almost  a  caricature,  a  burlesque  on 
the  theme,  but  I  don't  think  that  Schumann 
had  any  such  idea.  On  the  contrary  he  meant 
it  as  a  very  sweet,  gentle,  loving  thought. 
The  last  page  has  something  ethereal,  ideal 
about  it;  it  should  be  breathed  out,  growing 
fainter  and  fainter  to  the  end. 

"The  G  minor  Ballade,  of  Chopin,  begins 
slowly,  with  much  dignity.  The  opening 
melody  is  one  of  sadness,  almost  gloom.  The 
a  tempo  on  second  page  contains  four  parts 
going  on  at  the  same  time.  At  the  piu  forte, 
care  must  be  taken  to  have  the  outer  side  of 
the  hand  well  raised,  and  moved  from  the 
wrist.  The  idea  here  is  one  of  great  agita- 
tion and  unrest.  The  fifth  page  needs  great 
power  and  the  legato  octaves  well  connected 
and  sustained.  The  feeling  of  unrest  is  here 
augmented  until  it  becomes  almost  painful, 
and  not  until  the  animato  does  a  restful  feel- 
ing come.  This  should  be  played  lightly  and 
delicately,  the  left  hand  giving  the  rhythm. 
The  presto  demands  great  power  and  dash. 
Let  the  wrist  be  low  when  beginning  the 
chords,  raise  it  after  the  first  and  let  it  fall 
after  the  second.  Always  accent  the  second 
chord.  Begin  the  final  double  runs  slowly 
and  increase  in  speed  and  tone.  So,  too,  with 


258  Piano   Mastery 

the  octaves,  begin  slowly  and  increase  in  power 
and  fire." 

Numerous  other  compositions  were  an- 
alyzed, but  the  ones  already  quoted  stand  out 
in  memory,  and  give  some  idea  of  Mr.  Sher- 
wood's manner  of  teaching. 

DR.  WILLIAM  MASON 

Years  after  the  foregoing  experiences  I 
had  the  privilege  of  doing  some  work  with  the 
dean  of  all  American  piano  masters,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Mason.  I  had  spent  several  years  in 
European  study,  with  Scharwenka,  Klind- 
worth  and  von  Billow,  and  had  returned  to  my 
own  land  to  join  its  teaching  and  playing 
force.  My  time  soon  became  so  largely  oc- 
cupied with  teaching  that  I  feared  my  play- 
ing would  be  entirely  pushed  to  the  wall  un- 
less I  were  under  the  guidance  of  some  master. 
With  this  thought  in  mind,  I  presented  my- 
self to  Dr.  Mason. 

"You  have  studied  with  Sherwood,"  he  be- 
gan. "He  has  excellent  ideas  of  touch  and 
technic.  Some  of  these  ideas  came  from  me, 
though  I  don't  wish  to  claim  too  much  in  the 
matter.  Sherwood  has  the  true  piano  touch. 
Very  few  pianists  have  it;  Klindworth  did  not 
have  it,  nor  von  Biilow,  nor  even  Liszt,  en- 


Hints   on   Interpretation        259 

tirely,  for  he  as  well  as  the  others,  sought  for 
a  more  orchestral  manner  of  playing.  Sher- 
wood has  this  touch;  Tausig  had  it,  and  de 
Pachmann  and  Rubinstein  most  of  all.  It  is 
not  taught  in  Germany  as  it  should  be.  The 
best  American  teachers  are  far  ahead  in  this 
respect;  in  a  few  years  the  Europeans  will 
come  to  us  to  learn  these  things."  (This  was 
Sherwood's  idea  also.) 

The  first  composition  played  to  Dr.  Mason 
was  the  G  minor  Rhapsodic  of  Brahms,  with 
which,  as  it  happened,  he  was  unfamiliar.  I 
played  the  entire  piece  through  without  inter- 
ruption, and  he  seemed  pleased. 

"You  have  a  beautiful  tone — a  really  beau- 
tiful tone,  and  you  play  very  artistically; 
much  of  this  must  be  natural  to  you,  you  could 
not  have  acquired  it.  You  also  have  an  ex- 
cellently trained  hand.  I  may  say  that  in  my 
forty  years  of  teaching  I  have  never  had  any 
one  come  to  me  with  a  better  position,  or  more 
natural  and  normal  condition.  Now,  what  do 
you  think  I  can  do  for  you?" 

I  explained  that  I  needed  some  new  ideas 
in  my  teaching,  and  wished  to  keep  up  my  own 
practise. 

"I  will  explain  my  theories  to  you,  and  we 
will  then  study  some  compositions  together. 


260  Piano   Mastery 

"There  is  everything  in  knowing  how  to 
practise,  but  it  is  something  that  cannot  be 
taught.  I  played  in  public  ten  years  before  I 
found  out  the  secret. 

"Practise  slowly  and  in  sections.  Not  only 
must  all  the  notes  be  there,  they  must  be  dwelt 
on.  There  must  be  a  firm  and  rock-like  basis 
for  piano  playing;  such  a  foundation  can  only 
be  laid  by  patient  and  persevering  slow  prac- 
tise. If  the  player  has  not  the  control  over 
his  fingers  to  play  a  piece  slowly,  he  certainly 
cannot  play  it  fast.  Slow  practise — one  dif- 
ficulty at  a  time — one  hand  at  a  time;  Napol- 
eon's tactics,  'one  division  at  a  time,'  applies 
to  music  study.  Above  all  do  not  hurry  in 
fugue  playing,  a  universal  fault.  Bach  needs 
a  slower  trill  than  modern  music.  Chords 
are  not  to  be  played  with  percussion  but  with 
pressure.  The  main  things  in  piano  playing 
are  tone  and  sentiment.  When  you  take  up 
a  new  piece,  practise  a  few  measures  slowly, 
till  you  know  them,  then  play  faster;  take  the 
next  few  measures  in  the  same  way;  but  at 
first  do  not  practise  the  whole  piece  through  at 
once. 

"Just  as  in  life  every  experience  of  great 
joy  or  great  grief  leaves  one  better  or  more 
callous,  so  every  time  you  practise  you  have 


Hints   on   Interpretation        261 

either  advanced  or  gone  back.  Right  play- 
ing, like  good  manners  in  a  well-trained  child, 
becomes  habitual  from  always  doing  right. 
As  we  are  influenced  for  good  or  evil  by  those 
we  associate  with,  so  are  we  influenced  by  the 
character  and  quality  of  the  tones  we  make 
and  hear.  Be  in  earnest;  put  your  heart, 
your  whole  soul,  your  whole  self  into  your 
playing." 

Among  other  pieces  we  studied  together  was 
the  Schumann  sonata  in  F  minor,  the  Euse- 
bius  Sonata — a  glorious  work!  In  the  open- 
ing movement  the  left  hand  should  be  very 
serious  and  ponderous,  with  the  hand  and  fin- 
gers held  close  to  the  keys;  using  arm  weight. 
The  melody  in  octaves  in  right  hand  is  beseech- 
ing, pleading,  imploring.  In  many  places  the 
touch  is  very  elastic.  The  second  movement 
begins  very  softly,  as  though  one  heard  some- 
thing faintly  in  the  distance,  and  did  not  quite 
know  what  it  was,  but  thought  it  might  be 
music.  The  accents  in  this  movement  are  to 
be  understood  in  a  comparative  degree,  and  are 
not  as  strong  as  the  marks  seem  to  indicate. 
The  Scherzo  is  extremely  pompous  and  is  to 
be  played  with  heavy  accents  and  a  great  deal 
of  vim  and  go;  the  chords  with  tin*  utmost 
freedom  arid  dash.  One  must  use  the  "let- 


2C2  Piano   Mastery 

ting-go"  principle,  which  Paderewski  has  to 
perfection. 

We  next  took  up  the  Grieg  Concerto;  the 
Peter's  edition  of  this  work  has  been  corrected 
by  the  composer.  At  the  first  lesson,  Dr. 
Mason  accompanied  on  a  second  piano,  and 
seemed  pleased  with  the  work  I  had  done, 
making  no  corrections,  except  to  suggest  a 
somewhat  quicker  tempo.  "Not  that  I  would 
do  anything  to  impair  your  carefulness  and 
accuracy,  but  you  must  take  a  risk,  and  from 
the  beginning,  too.  I  am  reminded  of  the 
young  man  who  has  been  very  carefully 
brought  up.  When  the  time  comes  for  him  to 
strike  out  and  take  his  chance  in  life,  he  holds 
back  and  is  afraid,  while  another  with  more 
courage,  steps  in  and  takes  away  his  oppor- 
tunity." 

We  discussed  the  slow  movement  at  great 
length.  "Note  in  this  movement  the  slow, 
dreamy  effect  that  can  be  made  at  the  ending 
of  the  second  solo,  and  the  artistic  use  of  the 
pedal  in  the  following  chords.  The  third 
movement  must  have  great  swing  and  'go'; 
the  octave  passage  cadenza  should  be  prac- 
tised in  rhythmical  groups,  and  the  final 
Andante  must  be  fast." 

The  third  time  we  played  the  concerto  I  had 


Hints   on   Interpretation        263 

it  well  in  hand.  Dr.  Mason  accompanied  as 
only  he  could  do,  and  at  the  close  praised  me 
on  the  way  I  had  worked  it  up,  and  the  poetry 
and  fire  I  was  able  to  put  into  it.  Who  could 
help  playing  with  fire  and  enthusiasm  when 
led  by  such  a  master! 

Dr.  Mason  was  a  most  inspiring  teacher, 
quick  to  note  and  praise  what  was  good,  and 
equally  vigilant  in  correcting  what  was  blame- 
worthy. His  criticisms  were  of  the  utmost 
value,  for  he  had  such  wide  experience,  and 
such  a  large  acquaintance  with  music  and 
musicians.  Best  of  all  he  was  a  true  artist, 
always  ready  to  demonstrate  his  art  for  the 
benefit  of  the  pupil,  always  encouraging,  al- 
ways inspiring. 


VITAL  POINTS  IN  PIANO  PLAYING 

COMPOSITE  PRINCIPLES  DEDUCED  FROM 

TALKS  WITH  EMINENT  PIANISTS 

AND  TEACHERS 

SECTION  I 

How  things  are  done,  how  others  do  them, 
and  the  reasons  for  the  doing  of  them  in  one 
way  and  not  in  another,  used  to  occupy  my 
thoughts  back  as  far  as  I  can  remember.  As 
a  child  I  was  fond  of  watching  any  one  doing 
fine  needlework  or  beautiful  embroidery, 
and  tried  to  imitate  what  I  saw,  going  into 
minutest  details.  This  fondness  for  exactness 
and  detail,  when  applied  to  piano  study,  led 
me  to  question  many  things;  to  wonder  why 
I  was  told  to  do  thus  and  so,  when  other  people 
seemed  to  do  other  ways;  in  fact  I  began  to 
discover  that  every  one  who  played  the  piano 
played  it  in  a  different  fashion.  Why  was 
there  not  one  way? 

One  memorable  night  I  was  taken  to  hear 
Anton  Rubinstein.  What  a  marvelous  in- 
strument the  piano  was,  to  be  sure,  when  its 

264 


Vital   Points   in   Piano    Playing     265 

keys  were  moved  by  a  touch  that  was  at  one 
moment  all  fire  and  flame,  and  the  next  smooth 
as  velvet  or  soft  and  light  as  thistle-down. 
What  had  my  home  piano  in  common  with 
this  wonder?  Why  did  all  the  efforts  at 
piano  playing  I  had  hitherto  listened  to  sink 
into  oblivion  when  I  heard  this  master?  What 
was  the  reason  of  it  all? 

More  artists  of  the  piano  came  within  my 
vision,  Mehlig,  Joseffy,  Mason,  and  others. 
As  I  listened  to  their  performances  it  was 
brought  to  me  more  clearly  than  ever  that  each 
master  played  the  piano  in  the  manner  which 
best  suited  himself;  at  the  same  time  each  and 
every  player  made  the  instrument  utter  tones 
and  effects  little  dreamed  of  by  the  ordinary 
learner.  What  was  the  secret?  Was  it  the 
manner  of  moving  the  keys,  the  size  of  hand, 
the  length  of  finger,  or  the  great  strength  pos- 
sessed by  the  player?  I  had  always  been 
taught  to  play  slowly  and  carefully,  so  that 
I  should  make  no  mistakes;  these  great  pian- 
ists had  wonderful  fearlessness;  Rubinstein  at 
least  did  not  seem  to  care  whether  or  not  he 
hit  a  few  wrong  notes  here  and  there,  if  he 
could  only  secure  the  speed  and  effect  desired. 
Whence  came  his  fearless  velocity,  his  tre- 
mendous power? 


266  Piano    Mastery 

ESSENTIALS   OF   PIANISM 

Little  by  little  I  began  to  realize  the  es- 
sentials of  effective  piano  playing  were  these: 
clear  touch,  intelligent  phrasing,  all  varieties 
of  tone,  all  the  force  the  piano  would  stand, 
together  with  the  greatest  delicacy  and  the  ut- 
most speed.  These  things  the  artists  pos- 
sessed as  a  matter  of  course,  but  the  ordinary 
student  or  teacher  failed  utterly  to  make  like 
effects,  or  to  play  with  sufficient  clearness  and 
force.  What  was  the  reason? 

In  due  course  I  came  under  the  supervision 
of  various  piano  pedagogues.  To  the  first  I 
gave  implicit  obedience,  endeavoring  to  do  ex- 
actly as  I  was  told.  The  next  teacher  said 
I  must  begin  all  over  again,  as  I  had  been 
taught  "all  wrong."  I  had  never  learned 
hand  position  nor  independence  of  fingers — 
these  must  now  be  established.  The  follow- 
ing master  told  me  finger  independence  must 
be  secured  in  quite  a  different  fashion  from  the 
manner  in  which  I  had  been  taught,  which  was 
"all  wrong."  The  next  professor  said  I  must 
bend  the  finger  squarely  from  the  second  joint, 
and  not  round  all  three  joints,  as  I  had  been 
doing.  This  so-called  fault  took  several 
months  to  correct. 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     267 

To  the  next  I  am  indebted  for  good  ortho- 
dox (if  somewhat  pedantic)  ideas  of  finger- 
ing and  phrasing,  for  which  he  was  noted. 
The  hobby  of  the  next  master  was  slow  mo- 
tions with  soft  touch.  This  course  was  cal- 
culated to  take  all  the  vim  out  of  one's  fingers 
and  all  the  brilliancy  out  of  one's  playing  in 
less  than  six  months.  To  the  next  I  owe  a 
comprehension  of  the  elastic  touch,  with  de- 
vitalized muscles.  This  touch  I  practised  so 
assiduously  that  my  poor  piano  was  ruined  in- 
side of  a  year,  and  had  to  be  sent  to  the  factory 
for  a  new  keyboard.  The  next  master  insisted 
on  great  exactness  of  finger  movements,  on 
working  up  velocity  with  metronome,  on  fine 
tone  shading  and  memorizing. 

THE   DESIRE   FOE   REAL   KNOWLEDGE 

Such,  in  brief,  has  been  my  experience  with 
pedagogues  and  teachers  of  the  piano.  Hav- 
ing passed  through  it  (and  in  passing  having 
tried  various  so-called  and  unnamed  methods) 
I  feel  I  have  reached  a  vantage  ground  upon 
which  I  can  stand  and  look  back  over  the 
course.  The  desire  to  know  the  experience  of 
the  great  artists  of  the  keyboard  is  as  strong 
within  me  as  ever.  What  did  they  not  have 
to  go  through  to  master  their  instrument? 


268  Piano   Mastery 

And  having  mastered  it,  what  do  they  con- 
sider the  vital  essentials  of  piano  technic  and 
piano  playing?  Surely  they  must  know  these 
things  if  any  one  can  know  them.  They  can 
tell,  if  they  will,  what  to  do  and  what  to  avoid, 
what  to  exclude  as  unnecessary  or  unessential 
and  what  to  concentrate  upon. 

The  night  Rubinstein's  marvelous  tones  fell 
upon  my  childish  ears  I  longed  to  go  to  him, 
clasp  his  wonderful  hands  in  my  small  ones 
and  beg  him  to  tell  me  how  he  did  it  all.  I 
now  know  he  could  not  have  explained  how, 
for  the  greater  the  genius — the  more  sponta- 
neous its  expression — the  less  able  is  such  an 
one  to  put  into  words  the  manner  of  its  mani- 
festation. In  later  years  the  same  impulse 
has  come  when  listening  to  Paderewski,  Hof- 
mann  and  others.  If  they  could  only  tell  us 
exactly  what  is  to  be  done  to  master  the  piano, 
what  a  boon  it  would  be  to  those  who  are  awake 
enough  to  profit  by  and  follow  the  directions 
and  experiences  of  such  masters. 

In  recognition  of  the  strength  of  this  desire, 
months  after  a  half -forgotten  wish  had  been 
expressed  by  me,  came  a  request  by  Musical 
America  to  prepare  a  series  of  interviews  with 
the  world  famed  pianists  who  were  visiting 
our  shores,  and  also  with  prominent  teachers 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     269 

who  were  making  good  among  us,  and  who 
were  proving  by  results  attained  that  they 
were  safe  and  efficient  guides. 

SEARCHING   FOR   TRUTH 

Never  was  an  interesting  and  congenial 
labor  undertaken  with  more  zest.  The  artists 
were  plied  with  questions  which  to  them  may 
have  seemed  prosaic,  but  which  to  the  inter- 
rogator were  the  very  essence  of  the  principles 
of  piano  technic  and  piano  mastery.  It  is  not 
a  light  task  for  an  artist  to  sit  down  and 
analyze  his  own  methods.  Some  found  it  al- 

m 

most  impossible  to  put  into  language  their 
ideas  on  these  subjects.  They  had  so  long 
been  concerned  with  the  highest  themes  of 
interpretation  that  they  hardly  knew  how  the 
technical  effects  were  produced,  nor  could  they 
put  the  manner  of  making  them  into  words. 
They  could  only  say,  with  Rubinstein,  "I  do 
it  this  way,"  leaving  the  questioner  to  divine 
how  and  then  to  give  an  account  of  it.  How- 
ever, with  questions  leading  up  to  the  points 
I  was  anxious  to  secure  light  upon,  much  in- 
formation was  elicited. 

One  principle  was  ever  before  me,  namely 
the  Truth.  I  desired  to  find  out  the  truth 
about  each  subject  and  then  endeavored  to 


270  Piano   Mastery 

set  down  what  was  said,  expressed  in  the  way 
I  felt  would  convey  the  most  exact  meaning. 
In  considering  the  vital  points  or  heads 
under  which  to  group  the  subjects  to  be  con- 
sidered, the  following  seem  to  cover  the 
ground  pretty  thoroughly: 

1.  Artistic  piano  technic;  how  acquired  and 
retained. 

2.  How  to  practise. 

3.  How  to  memorize. 

4.  Rhythm  and  tone  color  in  piano  playing. 


SECTION  II 

Hand  Position,  Finger  Action,  and  Artistic 
Touch 

WHAT   TECHNIC   INCLUDES 

When  we  listen  to  a  piano  recital  by  a 
world-famous  artist,  we  think — if  we  are  musi- 
cians— primarily  of  the  interpretation  of  the 
compositions  under  consideration.  That  the 
pianist  has  a  perfect  technic  almost  goes  with- 
out saying.  He  must  have  such  a  technic  to 
win  recognition  as  an  artist.  He  would  not 
be  an  artist  without  a  great  technic,  without 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     271 

a  complete  command  over  the  resources  of  the 
instrument  and  over  himself. 

Let  us  use  the  word  technic  in  its  large  sense, 
the  sense  which  includes  all  that  pertains  to  the 
executive  side  of  piano  playing.  It  is  in  this 
significance  that  Harold  Bauer  calls  technic 
"an  art  in  itself."  Mme.  Bloomfield  Zeisler 
says:  "Piano  technic  includes  so  much! 
Everything  goes  into  it :  arithmetic,  grammar, 
diction,  language  study,  poetry,  history  and 
painting.  In  the  first  stages  there  are  rules 
to  be  learned,  just  as  in  any  other  study.  I 
must  know  the  laws  of  rhythm  and  meter  to  be 
able  to  punctuate  musical  phrases  and  periods. 
Pupils  who  have  long  since  passed  the  arith- 
metic stage  have  evidently  forgotten  all  about 
fractions  and  division,  for  they  do  not  seem  to 
grasp  the  time  values  of  notes  and  groups  of 
notes  used  in  music;  they  do  not  know  what 
must  be  done  with  triplets,  dotted  notes  and  so 
on.  Thus  you  see  technic  includes  a  multitude 
of  things;  it  is  a  very  wide  subject." 

HAND   POSITION 

The  first  principle  a  piano  teacher  shows 
his  pupil  is  that  of  hand  position.  It  has  been 
my  effort  to  secure  a  definite  expression  on  this 
point  from  various  artists.  Most  of  them 


272  Piano   Mastery 

agree  that  an  arched  position  with  rounded 
finger  joints  is  the  correct  one.  It  was  Pa- 
derewski  who  said,  "Show  me  how  the  player 
holds  his  hands  at  the  piano,  and  I  will  tell 
you  what  kind  of  player  he  is" — showing  the 
Polish  pianist  considers  hand  position  of  prime 
importance. 

"I  hold  the  hand  arched  and  very  firm."- 
Ernest  Schelling. 

"The  hand  takes  an  arched  position,  the 
finger-tips  forming  a  curve  on  the  keys,  the 
middle  finger  being  placed  a  little  farther  in 
on  the  key  than  is  natural  for  the  first  and 
fifth." — Katharine  Goodson. 

"The  hand  is  formed  on  the  keys  in  its  five- 
finger  position,  with  arched  knuckles." — Ethel 
Leginska. 

"The  hand  is  formed  in  an  arched  position, 
with  curved  fingers,  and  solidified." — Carl 
Roeder. 

"The  hand,  in  normal  playing  position,  must 
stand  up  in  well  arched  form,  with  fingers  well 
rounded."-  -Thuel  Burnham. 

"I  first  establish  an  arched  hand  position, 
with  firm  fingers."- —Edwin  Hughes. 

"I  teach  arched  hand  position." — Alexander 
Lambert. 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     273 

"One  must  first  secure  an  arched  hand,  with 
steady  first  joints  of  the  fingers." — Eleanor 
Spencer. 

"The  first  thing  to  do  for  a  pupil  is  to  see 
that  the  hand  is  in  correct  position;  the 
knuckles  will  be  somewhat  elevated  and  the 
fingers  properly  rounded." — Bloomfield  Zeis- 
ler. 

"A  pupil  must  first  form  the  arch  of  the 
hand  and  secure  firm  finger  joints.     I  form 
the  hand  away  from  the  piano,  at  a  table."- 
Agnes  Morgan. 

Leschetizky  teaches  arched  hand  position, 
with  rounded  fingers,  and  all  who  have  come 
under  his  instruction  advocate  this  form.  It 
is  the  accepted  position  for  passage  playing. 
A  few  pianists,  notably  Alfred  Cortot  and 
Tina  Lerner,  play  their  passage  work  with 
flat  fingers,  but  this,  in  Miss  Lerner's  case,  is 
doubtless  caused  by  the  small  size  of  the  hand. 

It  is  clear  from  the  above  quotations,  and 
from  many  other  opinions  which  could  be  cited, 
that  the  authorities  agree  the  hand  should  be 
well  arched,  the  end  of  the  finger  coming  in 
contact  with  the  key ;  furthermore  there  should 
be  no  weakness  nor  giving  in  at  the  nail 
joint. 


274  Piano   Mastery 


FINGER  ACTION 

The  question  of  lifting  the  fingers  seems  to 
be  one  on  which  various  opinions  are  held. 
Some  pianists,  like  Godowsky  for  instance, 
will  tell  you  they  do  not  approve  of  raising 
the  fingers — that  the  fingers  must  be  kept 
close  to  the  keys.  It  is  noticeable,  however, 
that  even  those  who  do  not  speak  favorably  of 
finger  action,  use  it  themselves  when  playing 
passages  requiring  distinctness  and  clearness. 
Other  players  are  rather  hazy  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  these  are  generally  persons  who  have 
not  gone  through  the  routine  of  teaching. 

The  accepted  idea  of  the  best  teachers  is 
that  at  the  beginning  of  piano  study  positive 
finger  movements  must  be  acquired;  finger 
action  must  be  so  thoroughly  grounded  that 
it  becomes  second  nature,  a  very  part  of  the 
player,  something  he  can  never  forget  nor  get 
away  from.  So  fixed  should  it  become  that  no 
subsequent  laxity,  caused  by  the  attention  be- 
ing wholly  centered  on  interpretation  can  dis- 
turb correct  position,  condition,  or  graceful, 
plastic  movement. 

"For  passage  work  I  insist  on  finger  action ; 
the  fingers  must  be  raised  and  active  to  insure 
proper  development.  I  think  one  certainly 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     275 

needs  higher  action  when  practising  technic 
and  technical  pieces  than  one  would  use  when 
playing  the  same  pieces  before  an  audience." 
—Clarence  Adler. 

Alexander  Lambert  speaks  to  the  point 
when  he  says:  "I  teach  decided  finger  action 
in  the  beginning.  Some  teachers  may  not  teach 
finger  action  because  they  say  artists  do  not 
use  it.  But  the  artist,  if  questioned,  would  tell 
you  he  had  to  acquire  finger  action  in  the  be- 
ginning. There  are  so  many  stages  in  piano 
playing.  The  beginner  must  raise  his  fingers 
in  order  to  acquire  finger  development  and  a 
clear  touch.  In  the  middle  stage  he  has  se- 
cured enough  finger  control  to  play  the  same 
passages  with  less  action,  yet  still  with  suf- 
ficient clearness,  while  in  the  more  or  less  fin- 
ished stages  the  passage  may  be  played  with 
scarcely  any  perceptible  motion,  so  thoroughly 
do  the  fingers  respond  to  every  mental  require- 
ment." 

It  is  this  consummate  mastery  and  control 
of  condition  and  movement  that  lead  the  super- 
ficial observer  to  imagine  that  the  great  artist 
gives  no  thought  to  such  things  as  position, 
condition  and  movements.  Never  was  there 
a  greater  mistake.  The  finest  perfection  of 
technic  has  been  acquired  with  painstaking 


276  Piano   Mastery 

care,  with  minute  attention  to  exacting  de- 
tail. At  some  period  of  his  career,  the  artist 
has  had  to  come  down  to  foundation  principles 
and  work  up.  Opinions  may  differ  as  to  the 
eminence  of  Leschetizky  as  a  teacher,  but  the 
fact  remains  that  many  of  the  pianists  now  be- 
fore the  public  have  been  with  him  at  one  time 
or  another.  They  all  testify  that  the  Vien- 
nese master  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  a 
player  until  he  has  gone  through  a  course  of 
rigorous  preparation  spent  solely  in  finger 
training,  and  can  play  a  pair  of  Czerny  etudes 
with  perfect  control  and  effect. 

AETISTIC   TOUCH 

One  of  the  greatest  American  teachers  of 
touch  was  Dr.  William  Mason,  who  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  this  subject.  His  own 
touch  was  noted  for  its  clear,  bell-like,  elastic 
quality.  He  remarked  on  one  occasion,  in  re- 
gard to  playing  in  public:  "It  is  possible  I 
may  be  so  nervous  that  I  can  hardly  walk  to 
the  piano;  but  once  I  have  begun  to  play  I 
shall  hold  the  audience  still  enough  to  hear 
a  pin  drop,  simply  by  the  beauty  of  my 
touch  and  tone."  Dr.  Mason's  touch  spe- 
cialties were  "pressure"  and  "elastic"  or  "draw- 
ing-off"  touches.  He  found  these  gave 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     277 

both  weight  and  crisp  lightness  to  the  tones. 

Mr.  Tobias  Matthay,  of  London,  has  given 
much  time  and  thought  to  the  study  of  touch 
and  key  mechanism.  He  says:  "The  two 
chief  rules  of  technic,  as  regards  the  key  are: 
Always  feel  how  much  the  key  resists  you, 
feel  how  much  the  key  wants  for  every  note. 
Second,  always  listen  for  the  moment  each 
sound  begins,  so  that  you  may  learn  to  direct 
your  effort  to  the  sound  only  and  not  to  the 
key  bed.  It  is  only  by  making  the  hammer 
end  of  the  key  move  that  you  can  make  a 
sound.  The  swifter  the  movement,  the  louder 
the  sound.  The  more  gradual  the  movement 
the  more  beautiful  the  quality  of  sound.  For 
brilliant  tone,  you  may  hit  the  string  by  means 
of  the  key,  but  do  not,  by  mistake,  hit  the  key 
instead." 

Thuel  Burnham,  a  pupil  of  Mason  and  Les- 
chetizky,  has  welded  the  ideas  of  these  two 
masters  into  his  own  experience,  and  simpli- 
fies the  matter  of  piano  touch  as  follows: 

MELODY  AND   COLORATURA   HANDS 

"The  position  and  condition  of  the  hand 
varies  according  to  the  character  of  the  music 
and  the  quality  of  tone  you  wish  to  produce. 
If  you  give  out  a  melody,  you  want  a  full, 


278  Piano   Mastery 

luscious  tone,  the  weight  of  arm  on  the  key, 
everything  relaxed  and  a  clinging,  caressing 
pressure  of  finger.  Here  you  have  the  'Mel- 
ody Hand,'  with  outstretched,  flat  fingers. 
On  the  contrary,  if  you  wish  rapid  passage 
work,  with  clear,  bright,  articulate  touch,  the 
hand  must  stand  up  in  well- arched,  normal 
playing  position,  with  fingers  well  rounded 
and  good  finger  action.  Here  you  have  the 
'Technical'  or  'Coloratura  Hand.' ' 

The  distinction  made  by  Mr.  Burnham 
clears  up  the  uncertainty  about  arched  hand 
and  articulate  touch,  or  low  hand  and  flat  fin- 
gers. Both  are  used  in  their  proper  place, 
according  to  the  demands  of  the  music.  The 
player,  however,  who  desires  a  clean,  reliable 
technic,  should  first  acquire  a  coloratura  hand 
before  attempting  a  melody  hand. 


SECTION  III 
The  Art  of  Practise 

We  have  seen  that  if  the  pianist  hopes  to 
perfect  himself  in  his  art  he  must  lay  the  foun- 
dation deep  down  in  the  fundamentals  of 
hand  position,  body  condition,  correct  finger 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     279 

movements  and  in  careful  attention  to  the 
minutest  details  of  touch  and  tone  production. 

The  remark  is  often  heard,  from  persons  who 
have  just  listened  to  a  piano  recital:  "I 
would  give  anything  in  the  world  to  play  like 
that!"  But  would  they  even  give  the  neces- 
sary time,  to  say  nothing  of  the  endless 
patience,  tireless  energy  and  indomitable  per- 
severance which  go  to  the  making  of  a  vir- 
tuoso. 

How  much  time  does  the  artist  really  re- 
quire for  study?  Paderewski  owns  to  devot- 
ing all  his  time  to  it  during  the  periods  of 
preparation  for  his  recital  tours.  At  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  most  of  the  artists  give  a 
large  portion  of  each  day  to  the  work.  Go- 
dowsky  is  an  incessant  worker;  Burnham  de- 
votes his  entire  mornings  to  piano  study;  Ger- 
maine  Schnitzer  gives  six  hours  daily  to  her 
work,  and  if  interrupted  one  day  the  lost  time 
is  soon  made  up.  Eleanor  Spencer  "practises 
all  her  spare  time,"  as  she  quaintly  puts  it. 
A  professional  pianist  must  give  a  number  of 
hours  each  day  to  actual  practise  at  the  key- 
board, besides  what  is  done  away  from  it. 
The  work  is  mentally  going  on  continually, 
whether  one  really  sits  at  the  instrument  or 
not. 


280  Piano   Mastery 

The  point  which  most  concerns  us  is :  How 
shall  one  practise  so  as  to  make  the  most  of 
the  time  and  accomplish  the  best  results? 
What  etudes,  if  any,  shall  we  use,  and  what 
technical  material  is  the  most  useful  and  ef- 
fectual? 

Wilhelm  Bachaus,  whose  consummate  tech- 
nic  we  have  so  often  admired,  says:  "I  am 
old-fashioned  enough  to  still  believe  in  scales 
and  arpeggios.  Some  of  the  players  of  the  pres- 
ent day  seem  to  have  no  use  for  such  things, 
but  I  find  them  of  great  importance.  This 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  I  go  through 
the  whole  set  of  keys  when  I  practise  the 
scales.  I  select  a  few  at  a  time  and  work  at 
those.  I  start  with  ridiculously  simple  forms 
—just  the  thumb  under  the  hand  and  the  hand 
over  the  thumb — a  few  movements  each  way, 
but  these  put  the  hand  in  trim  for  scales  and 
arpeggios.  I  practise  the  latter  about  half  an 
hour  a  day.  I  have  to  overhaul  my  technic 
once  or  twice  a  week  to  see  that  everything  is 
in  order.  Scales  and  arpeggios  come  in  for 
their  share  of  criticism.  I  practise  them  in 
various  touches,  but  of  tener  in  legato,  as  that  is 
more  difficult  and  also  more  beautiful  than  the 
others.  I  practise  technic,  when  possible,  an 
hour  a  day,  including  Bach," 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     281 

Sigismond  Stojowski  considers  that  scales 
and  arpeggios  must  form  a  part  of  the  daily 
routine. 

Thuel  Burnham  says:  "Of  my  practise 
hours  at  least  one  is  given  to  technic,  scales, 
arpeggios,  octaves,  chords,  and  Bach!  I  be- 
lieve in  taking  one  selection  of  Bach  and  per- 
fecting it — transposing  it  in  all  keys  and 
polishing  it  to  the  highest  point  possible.  So 
with  etudes,  it  is  better  to  perfect  a  few  than 
to  play  at  so  many." 

THE   PIANIST  A   MECHANIC 

Edwin  Hughes,  the  American  pianist  and 
teacher  in  Munich,  remarks:  "Technic  is  the 
mechanical  part  of  music  making;  to  keep  it 
in  running  order  one  must  be  constantly 
tinkering  with  it,  just  as  the  engine  driver  with 
his  locomotive  or  the  chauffeur  with  his  auto- 
mobile. Every  intelligent  player  recognizes 
certain  exercises  as  especially  beneficial  to  the 
mechanical  well-being  of  his  playing;  from 
these  he  will  plan  his  daily  schedule  of  techni- 
cal practise." 

Teresa  Carreno  asserts  she  had  in  the  begin- 
ning many  technical  exercises  which  her 
teacher  wrote  out  for  her,  from  difficult  pas- 
sages taken  from  the  great  composers.  There 


282  Piano   Mastery 

were  hundreds  of  them,  so  many  that  it  took 
just  three  days  to  go  the  rounds.  She  con- 
siders them  invaluable,  and  constantly  uses 
them  in  her  own  practise  and  in  her  teaching. 
Each  exercise  must  be  played  in  all  keys  and 
with  every  possible  variety  of  touch  and  tone. 

Paderewski  gives  much  time  daily  to  pure 
technic  practise.  He  has  been  known  to  play 
scales  and  arpeggios  in  a  single  key  for  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  at  a  stretch.  These  were 
played  with  every  variety  of  touch,  velocity, 
dynamic  shading  and  so  on. 

It  is  seen  from  the  instances  quoted  that 
many  great  pianists  believe  in  daily  technic 
practise,  or  the  study  of  pure  technic  apart 
from  pieces.  Many  more  testify  that  scales, 
chords,  arpeggios  and  octaves  constitute  their 
daily  bread.  Some  have  spoken  to  me  espe- 
cially of  octave  practise  as  being  eminently 
beneficial.  They  feel  these  things  are  essen- 
tial to  the  acquiring  of  a  fine  technic,  and  keep- 
ing it  up  to  concert  pitch. 

Some  artists  are  partial  to  certain  technical 
studies.  Bachaus  highly  recommends  those  of 
Brahms,  for  instance.  All  artists  use  Bach  in 
connection  with  their  technic  practise;  in  fact 
the  works  of  Bach  may  be  considered  to  em- 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     283 

body  pure  technic  principles,  and  pianists  and 
teachers  consider  them  a  daily  necessity. 

INVENTING   EXERCISES 

Together  with  their  studies  in  pure  technic 
alone,  the  artists  invent  exercises  out  of  the 
pieces  they  study,  either  by  playing  passages 
written  for  both  hands  with  one  hand,  by  turn- 
ing single  notes  into  octaves,  by  using  more 
difficult  fingering  than  necessary,  thus  bring- 
ing into  use  the  weaker  fingers,  changing  the 
rhythm,  and  in  numerous  other  ways  increas- 
ing the  effort  of  performance,  so  that  when 
the  passage  is  played  as  originally  written,  it 
shall  indeed  seem  like  child's  play. 

Another  means  to  acquire  technical  mastery 
is  through  transposition.  One  would  think 
Bach's  music  difficult  enough  when  performed 
as  written,  but  the  artists  think  nothing  of 
putting  it  through  the  different  keys.  Burn- 
ham  relates  that  during  early  lessons  with  Dr. 
Mason,  that  master  gave  him  a  Bach  Inven- 
tion to  prepare,  casually  remarking  it  might 
be  well  to  memorize  it.  The  simple  sugges- 
tion was  more  than  sufficient,  for  the  ambi- 
tious pupil  presented  himself  at  the  next  lesson 
with  not  only  that  particular  Invention  learned 


284  Piano   Mastery 

by  heart,  but  likewise  the  whole  set!  De 
Pachmann,  in  his  eagerness  to  master  the  tech- 
nic  and  literature  of  the  piano,  says  that  when 
a  Bach  Prelude  and  Fugue  was  on  one  occa- 
sion assigned  him  by  his  teacher,  he  went  home 
and  learned  the  whole  twenty- four,  which  he 
was  able  to  play  in  every  key  for  the  next 
lesson ! 

SLOW    PRACTISE 

The  question  is  often  put  to  artists:  "Do 
you  deem  it  necessary  to  work  for  velocity,  or 
do  you  practise  the  composition  much  at  the 
required  speed?"  Many  pianists  practise 
very  slowly.  This  was  William  H.  Sher- 
wood's custom.  Harold  Bauer  believes  veloc- 
ity to  be  inherent  in  the  individual,  so  that 
when  the  passage  is  thoroughly  comprehended 
it  can  be  played  at  the  necessary  rate  of  speed. 
Bachaus  testifies  he  seldom  works  for  velocity, 
saying  that  if  he  masters  the  passage  he  can 
play  it  at  any  required  tempo.  "I  never  work 
for  velocity  as  some  do,"  he  remarks.  "I 
seldom  practise  fast,  for  it  interferes  with 
clearness.  I  prefer  to  play  more  slowly,  giv- 
ing the  greatest  attention  to  clearness  and 
good  tone.  By  pursuing  this  course  I  find 
that  when  I  need  velocity  I  have  it." 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     285 

Clarence  Adler  counsels  pupils  always  to 
begin  by  practising  slowly — faster  tempo  will 
develop  later,  subconsciously.  Velocity  is  only 
to  be  employed  after  the  piece  has  been 
thoroughly  learned,  every  mark  of  expression 
observed,  all  fingering,  accents  and  dynamic 
marks  mastered.  "You  would  scarcely  be- 
lieve," he  adds,  "how  slowly  I  practise  my- 
self." 

A   FEW   EXCEPTIONS 

There  are  very  few  exceptions  to  the  gen- 
eral verdict  in  favor  of  technic  practise  apart 
from  pieces.  Godowsky  asserts  he  never 
practises  scales.  Bauer  cares  little  for  pure 
technic  practise,  believing  the  composition  it- 
self contains  sufficient  material  of  a  technical 
nature. 

Whether  or  not  these  brilliant  exceptions 
merely  prove  the  rule,  the  thoughtful  student 
of  the  piano  must  decide  for  himself.  He  has 
already  discovered  that  modern  piano  playing 
requires  a  perfect  technic,  together  with  the 
personal  equation  of  vigorous  health,  serious 
purpose  and  many-sided  mentality.  Mme. 
Rider-Possart  says:  "Technic  is  something 
an  artist  has  to  put  in  the  background  as  some- 
thing of  secondary  importance,  yet  if  he  docs 


286  Piano   Mastery 

not  possess  it  he  is  nowhere."  The  student 
will  not  overlook  the  fact  that  to  acquire  the 
necessary  technical  control  he  must  devote 
time  and  thought  to  it  outside  of  piece  play- 
ing. He  must  understand  the  principles  and 
follow  out  a  certain  routine  in  order  to  secure 
the  best  results  in  the  quickest  and  surest  way. 
While  each  one  must  work  out  his  own  salva- 
tion, it  is  an  encouragement  to  know  that  even 
the  greatest  artists  must  toil  over  their  technic, 
must  keep  eternally  at  it,  must  play  slowly, 
must  memorize  bit  by  bit.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  artist  and  the  talented  amateur  often 
lies  in  the  former's  absolute  concentration, 
perseverance  and  devotion  to  the  highest 
ideals. 


SECTION  IV 
How  to  Memorize 

At  the  present  stage  of  pianistic  develop- 
ment, an  artist  does  not  venture  to  come  before 
the  public  and  "use  his  notes."  No  artist  who 
values  his  reputation  would  attempt  it. 
Everything  must  be  performed  from  memory 
—solos,  concertos,  even  accompaniments. 
The  pianist  must  know  every  note  of  the  music 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     287 

he  performs.  The  star  accompanist  aspires 
to  the  same  mastery  when  he  plays  for  a 
famous  singer  or  instrumentalist.  We  also 
have  the  artist  conductor,  with  opera,  sym- 
phony or  concerto  at  his  finger-tips.  Hans 
von  Billow,  who  claimed  that  a  pianist  should 
have  more  than  two  hundred  compositions  in 
his  repertoire,  was  himself  equally  at  home  in 
orchestral  music.  He  always  conducted  his 
Meiningen  Orchestra  without  notes. 

Let  us  say,  then,  that  the  present-day  pian- 
ist ought  to  have  about  two  hundred  composi- 
tions in  h'is  repertoire,  all  of  which  must  be 
played  without  notes.  The  mere  fact  of  com- 
mitting to  memory  such  a  quantity  of  pages 
is  no  small  item  in  the  pianist's  equipment. 
The  problem  is  to  discover  the  best  means  of 
memorizing  music  quickly  and  surely.  Here 
again  we  are  privileged  to  inquire  of  the  artist 
and  of  the  artist  teacher.  His  knowledge 
and  experience  will  be  practical,  for  he  has 
evolved  it  and  proved  it  over  and  over  again. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Leschetizky  ad- 
vises memorizing  away  from  the  instrument. 
This  method  at  once  shuts  the  door  on  all  use- 
less and  thoughtless  repetition  employed  by  so 
many  piano  students,  who  repeat  a  passage 
endlessly,  to  avoid  thinking  it  out.  Then  they 


288  Piano   Mastery 

wonder  why  they  cannot  commit  to  memory! 
The  Viennese  master  suggests  that  a  short 
passage  of  two  or  four  measures  be  learned 
with  each  hand  alone,  then  tried  on  the  piano. 
If  not  yet  quite  fixed  in  consciousness  the  ef- 
fort should  be  repeated,  after  which  it  may  be 
possible  to  go  through  the  passage  without  an 
error.  The  work  then  proceeds  in  the  same 
manner  throughout  the  composition. 

ONE  YEAR'S  MEMORIZING 

A  player  who  gives  five  or  six  hours  daily  to 
study,  and  who  has  learned  how  to  memorize, 
should  be  able  to  commit  one  page  of  music 
each  day.  This  course,  systematically  pur- 
sued, would  result  in  the  thorough  assimilation 
of  at  least  fifty  compositions  in  one  year. 
This  is  really  a  conservative  estimate,  though 
at  first  glance  it  may  seem  rather  large.  If 
we  cut  the  figure  in  half,  out  of  consideration 
for  the  accumulative  difficulties  of  the  music, 
there  will  still  remain  twenty-five  pieces, 
enough  for  two  programs  and  a  very  respect- 
able showing  for  a  year's  study. 

It  may  be  that  Leschetizky's  principle  of 
memorizing  will  not  appeal  to  every  one.  The 
player  may  find  another  path  to  the  goal,  one 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     289 

more  suited  to  his  peculiar  temperament.  Or, 
if  he  has  not  yet  discovered  the  right  path,  let 
him  try  different  ways  till  he  hits  upon  one 
which  will  do  the  work  in  the  shortest  and  most 
thorough  manner.  All  masters  agree  that 
analysis  and  concentration  are  the  prime  fac- 
tors in  the  process  of  committing  music  to 
memory. 

Michael  von  Zadora,  pianist  and  teacher, 
said  to  me  recently:  "Suppose  you  have  a 
difficult  passage  to  learn  by  heart.  The  or- 
dinary method  of  committing  to  memory  is  to 
play  the  passage  over  and  over,  till  the  fingers 
grow  accustomed  to  its  intervals.  That  is  not 
my  manner  of  teaching.  The  only  way  to 
master  that  passage  is  to  analyze  it  thor- 
oughly, know  just  what  the  notes  are,  the  se- 
quences of  notes,  if  you  will,  their  position  on 
the  keyboard,  the  fingering,  the  positions  the 
hands  must  take  to  play  these  notes,  so  that 
you  know  just  where  the  fingers  have  to  go 
before  you  put  them  on  the  keys.  When  you 
thus  thoroughly  understand  the  passage  or 
piece,  have  thought  about  it,  lived  with  it,  so 
that  it  is  in  the  blood,  we  might  say,  the  fingers 
can  play  it.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  about 
it  and  no  need  for  senseless  repetitions." 


290  Piano   Mastery 

PHRASE  BY   PHRASE 

Most  of  the  artists  agree  that  memorizing 
must  be  done  phrase  by  phrase,  after  the  com- 
position has  been  thoroughly  analyzed  as  to 
keys,  chords,  and  construction.  This  is  Kath- 
arine Goodson's  way,  and  also  Eleanor  Spen- 
cer's and  Ethel  Leginska's,  three  of  Lesche- 
tizky's  pupils  now  before  the  public.  "I 
really  know  the  composition  so  thoroughly 
that  I  can  play  it  in  another  key  just  as  well 
as  the  one  in  which  it  is  written,  though  I  do 
not  always  memorize  it  each  hand  alone,"  says 
Miss  Goodson.  "I  first  play  the  composition 
over  a  few  times  to  become  somewhat  familiar 
with  its  form  and  shape,"  says  Eleanor  Spen- 
cer, "then  I  begin  to  analyze  and  study  it, 
committing  it  by  phrases,  or  ideas,  one  or  two 
measures  at  a  time.  I  do  not  always  take  the 
hands  alone,  unless  the  passage  is  very  intri- 
cate, for  sometimes  it  is  easier  to  learn  both 
hands  together."  Germaine  Schnitzer  avers 
that  she  keeps  at  a  difficult  passage  until  she 
really  knows  it  perfectly,  no  matter  how  long 
it  takes.  "What  is  the  use  of  going  on,"  she 
says,  "until  you  are  absolutely  sure  of  the  work 
in  hand." 

It  is  plain  from  the  opinions  already  cited 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     291 

and  from  many  I  have  heard  expressed  that 
the  artists  waste  no  time  over  useless  repeti- 
tions. They  fully  realize  that  a  piece  is  not 
assimilated  nor  learned  until  it  is  memorized. 
When  they  have  selected  the  composition  they 
wish  to  learn,  they  begin  at  once  to  memorize 
from  the  start.  The  student  does  not  always 
bring  to  his  work  this  definiteness  of  aim;  if 
he  did,  much  precious  time  would  be  saved. 
The  ability  to  memorize  ideas  expressed  in 
notes  grows  with  use,  just  as  any  other  apti- 
tude grows  with  continued  effort. 

Instead,  then,  of  playing  with  a  piece,  why 
do  you  not  at  once  begin  to  make  it  your  own  ? 
Look  at  the  phrases  so  intently  that  they  be- 
come as  it  were,  photographed  on  your  mind. 
Ruskin  said:  "Get  the  habit  of  looking  in- 
tently at  words."  We  might  say  the  same  of 
notes.  Look  at  the  phrase  with  the  convic- 
tion that  it  can  be  remembered  after  a  glance 
or  two.  It  is  only  an  indication  of  indolence 
and  mental  inertness  to  look  continually  at  the 
printed  page  or  passage  and  keep  on  playing 
it  over  and  over,  without  trying  to  fix  it  in- 
delibly in  the  mind. 

In  my  work  as  teacher  I  constantly  meet 
students,  and  teachers  too,  who  do  little  or  no 
memorizing.  Some  do  not  even  approve  of  it, 


292  Piano   Mastery 

though  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  any  one 
in  his  right  mind  can  disapprove  knowing  a 
thing  thoroughly.  The  only  way  to  know  it 
thoroughly  is  to  know  it  by  heart. 

CONSTANT  REPAIRS   NECESSARY 

A  repertoire  once  committed  must  be  con- 
stantly kept  in  repair.  The  public  player,  in 
his  seasons  of  study,  generally  has  a  regular 
system  of  repetition,  so  that  all  compositions 
can  be  gone  over  at  least  once  a  week.  One 
artist  suggests  that  the  week  be  started  with 
the  classics  and  concluded  with  modern  com- 
positions and  concerted  numbers.  Thus  each 
day  will  have  its  allotted  task.  The  pieces  are 
not  merely  to  be  played  over,  but  really  over- 
hauled, and  all  weak  places  treated  to  a  dose 
of  slow,  careful  practise,  using  the  printed 
pages.  Artists  on  tour,  where  consecutive 
practise  is  difficult  or  unattainable,  always 
carry  the  printed  notes  of  their  repertoire  with 
them,  and  are  ceaselessly  studying,  repairing, 
polishing  their  phrases,  thinking  out  their 
effects. 

To  those  who  wish  to  become  pianists,  I 
would  say:  "Keep  your  memory  active 
through  constant  use.  Be  always  learning  by 
heart;  do  it  systematically,  a  little  at  a  time. 


'Vital   Points   in   Piano    Playing     293 

So  it  will  be  daily  progress.     So  your  reper- 
toire is  built!" 


SECTION  V 
Rhythm  and  Tone  Color  in  Piano  Playing 

How  shall  two  such  opposites  as  rhythm  and 
tone  color  be  connected,  even  in  name,  some 
will  ask.  One  belongs  to  the  mechanical  side 
of  piano  playing,  while  the  other  appertains  to 
the  ideal,  the  poetic,  the  soulful.  The  two 
subjects,  however,  are  not  so  wide  apart  as 
might  at  first  appear;  for  the  beauty  and  vari- 
ety of  the  second  depends  largely  upon  the 
mastery  of  the  first.  You  must  play  rhyth- 
mically before  you  can  play  soulfully;  you 
must  first  be  able  to  keep  time  before  you  can 
attempt  to  express  color  and  emotion  through 
any  fluctuation  of  rhythm.  One  depends  on 
the  other,  therefore  time  and  rhythm  come 
first;  when  these  are  well  under  control, 
not  before,  we  can  go  further  and  enter  the 
wider  field  of  tonal  variety. 

Rhythm  is  one  of  the  pianist's  most  impor- 
tant assets,  something  he  cannot  do  without. 
It  might  be  said  that  the  possession  of  a  well- 
developed  rhythmic  sense  is  one  point  in  which 


294  Piano   Mastery 

the  artist  differs  greatly  from  the  amateur. 
The  latter  thinks  nothing  of  breaking  the 
rhythm  at  any  time  and  place  that  suits  his 
fancy;  while  the  artist  is  usually  conscientious 
about  such  matters,  because  his  time  sense  is 
more  highly  developed.  A  perfect  time  sense 
is  often  inherent  in  the  artist,  a  part  of  the 
natural  gift  which  he  has  cultivated  to  such  a 
high  state  of  achievement.  It  may  be  he  has 
never  had  any  difficulty  with  this  particular 
point  in  piano  playing,  while  the  amateur  has 
constantly  to  struggle  with  problems  of  time 
and  rhythm. 

THE   METRONOME 

When  the  subject  of  using  such  a  mechanical 
aid  as  the  metronome  to  cultivate  rhythmic 
sense,  is  broached  to  the  executive  artist,  it  does 
not  always  meet  with  an  assenting  response. 
With  such  bred-in-the-bone  sense  of  time  as 
the  artist  commands,  it  is  little  wonder  he  takes 
no  great  interest  in  mechanical  time-beating. 
Josef  Hofmann's  censure  of  the  metronome 
was  probably  due  to  his  inborn  rhythmic  and 
artistic  sense;  yet  his  words  have  doubtless 
had  their  effect  on  many  students,  who,  lack- 
ing his  sense  of  rhythm,  would  have  been 
greatly  benefited  by  its  use. 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing     295 

Godowsky,  when  asked  his  opinion  of  the 
metronome,  replied:  "I  assuredly  approve  of 
its  use;  I  have  even  devoted  a  chapter  to  the 
metronome  in  the  Progressive  Series,  my  great 
work  on  piano  playing."  Edwin  Hughes  re- 
marks: "If  pupils  have  naturally  a  poor 
sense  of  rhythm,  there  is  no  remedy  equal  to 
practising  with  the  metronome,  using  it  daily 
until  results  are  evident,  when  there  can  be  a 
judicious  letting  up  of  the  discipline.  The 
mechanical  sense  of  rhythm,  the  ability  to 
count  and  to  group  the  notes  of  a  piece  cor- 
rectly, can  be  taught  to  any  person,  if  one  has 
the  patience;  but  for  the  delicate  rhythmic 
nuances  required  by  a  Chopin  Mazourka  or  a 
Viennese  Valse,  a  special  rhythmic  gift  is  nec- 
essary." 

Artists  and  teachers  who  have  come  under 
Leschetizky's  influence  and  use  his  principles, 
are  generally  in  favor  of  the  metronome,  ac- 
cording to  their  own  testimony.  The  fact  is, 
they  as  teachers  often  find  such  deficiency  in 
their  pupils  on  the  subject  of  time  sense  and 
accuracy  in  counting,  that  they  are  forced  to 
institute  strict  measures  to  counteract  this  lack 
of  rhythmic  comprehension. 

Granting,  then,  that  the  correct  use,  not  the 
abuse,  of  the  metronome  is  of  great  assistance 


296  Piano   Mastery 

in  establishing  firm  rhythmic  sense,  let  us  turn 
our  thought  to  the  fascinating  subject  of 

TONE   COLOR 

When  De  Pachmann  affirmed  that  he  uses 
certain  fingers  to  create  certain  effects,  the  idea 
was  thought  to  be  one  of  the  eccentric  pianist's 
peculiar  fancies.  Other  players,  however, 
have  had  the  same  thought,  and  have  worked 
along  the  same  line — the  thought  that  on  the 
fingering  used  depends  the  quality  of  tone. 
For  instance  you  might  not  play  an  expressive 
melody  with  a  consecutive  use  of  the  fifth  fin- 
ger, which  is  called  a  "cold  finger"  by  Thuel 
Burnham.  He  would  use  instead  the  third,  a 
"warm  finger,"  to  give  out  a  soulful  melody. 

TONAL  VARIETY 

The  pianist  who  desires  to  play  effectively, 
must  continually  strive  for  variety  of  tone,  for 
tonal  coloring.  These  can  be  studied  in  scales, 
chords,  arpeggios  and  other  technical  forms. 
The  singer  seeks  to  make  a  tone  of  resonant 
color,  not  a  straight,  flat  tone;  the  pianist,  on 
his  part,  endeavors  to  give  color  and  variety 
to  his  playing  in  the  same  way.  Harold 
Bauer  thinks  variety  must  be  secured  by  the 
contrast  of  one  tone  with  another.  Even  a 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing    297 

very  harsh  tone  may  be  beautiful  in  its  right 
place,  owing  to  its  relation  to  other  tones,  and 
its  ability  to  express  an  idea.  To  render  the 
playing  expressive  by  the  contrast  of  light  and 
shade,  by  tonal  gradations,  by  all  varieties  of 
touch,  by  all  the  subtleties  of  nuance,  is  a 
great  art,  and  only  the  most  gifted  ever  master 
it  in  its  perfection.  These  are  the  things  that 
enchant  us  in  Paderewski's  performance, 
and  in  the  tonal  coloring  of  Gabrilowitsch. 
Hofmann's  playing  is  a  marvel  of  atmosphere 
and  color;  such  playing  is  an  object  lesson  to 
students,  a  lesson  in  variety  of  light  and  shade, 
the  shifting  of  exquisite  tonal  tints. 

The  sensitive  musician  is  highly  susceptible 
to  color  effects  in  nature,  in  art  or  in  objects 
about  him.  Certain  colors  attract  him,  for  he 
sees  an  affinity  between  them  and  the  tonal  ef- 
fects he  strives  to  produce.  Other  colors  re- 
pel, perhaps  for  the  opposite  reason.  Bril- 
liant red  is  a  warlike  color,  and  finds  analogous 
expression  in  such  pieces  as  Chopin's  Polo- 
naise M  Hit  air  e,  and  MacDowelTs  Polonaise. 
We  cannot  help  seeing,  feeling  the  color  red, 
when  playing  such  music.  Soft  pink  and  rose 
for  love  music,  tender  blues  and  shades  of  gray 
for  nocturnes  and  night  pieces  are  some  of  the 
affinities  of  tone  and  color.  Warm  shades  of 


298  Piano   Mastery 

yellow  and  golden  brown  suggest  an  atmos- 
phere of  early  autumn,  while  delicate  or  vivid 
greens  give  thoughts  of  spring  and  luscious 
summer.  Certain  pieces  of  Mozart  seem  to 
bring  before  us  the  rich  greens  of  a  summer 
landscape;  the  Fantaisie  in  C  minor,  and  the 
Pastorale  Varie  are  of  this  type. 

Arthur  Hochmann  says:  "Colors  mean  so 
much  to  me ;  some  are  so  beautiful,  the  various 
shades  of  red  for  instance,  then  the  golden 
yellows,  rich  warm  browns,  and  liquid  blues. 
We  can  make  as  wonderful  combinations  in 
tone  color  as  ever  painter  put  upon  canvas. 
To  me  dark  red  speaks  of  something  tender, 
heart-searching,  mysterious.  On  the  other 
hand  the  shades  of  yellow  express  gaiety  and 
brightness." 

It  has  been  said  that  a  pianist  should  study 
color  effects  in  order  to  express  them  in  his 
playing.  He  can  do  this  to  special  advantage 
at  the  theater  or  opera,  where  he  can  see  un- 
rolled before  him  the  greatest  possible  variety 
in  light  and  shade,  in  colors,  and  in  the  con- 
stantly changing  panorama  of  action  and  emo- 
tion. 

The  pianist  can  receive  many  ideas  of  tone 
color  when  listening  to  a  great  singer,  and 
watching  the  infinite  tonal  gradations  pro- 


Vital   Points   in   Piano   Playing    299 

duced  on  the  "greatest  of  all  instruments,"  the 
human  voice. 

In  short  the  pianist  draws  from  many 
sources  the  experience,  the  feeling  and  emo- 
tion with  which  he  strives  to  inspire  the  tones 
he  evokes  from  his  instrument.  The  keener 
his  perceptions,  the  more  he  labors,  suffers, 
and  lives,  the  more  he  will  be  able  to  express 
through  his  chosen  medium — the  piano! 


THE  END 


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JUL3M99 


MUSIC 


••  in  ii  1 1  iiu!  in  ii  NIK  mil  win  IIIH  inn  HIM  i"'1   ii  n 

A     001  059  474     5 


MT 

220 

B8lp 


